OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF        . 
«^IPORi^ 


AMERICAN  BAD  BOYS 
IN  THE  MAKING 


BY 

A.  H.  STEWART,  M.  D. 

FORMERLY  MEMBER  OF  THE  KENTUCKY  STATE  SENATE  COMMITTEE  ON  PRISONS 

AND   CHARITIES,   PHYSICIAN,    AND   ASSISTANT   WARDEN   AT   THE 

KENTUCKY    PENITENTIARY,    AND    CAPTAIN    IN 

THE    SPANISH  AMERICAN    WAR. 


13   E.  38th  street 

NEW    YORK 


.5% 


Copyright,  191 2, 

by 

A.  H.  Stewart,  M.D. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAQB 

I.    Introductory i 


II.    The  Influence  of  Age  on  Conduct 19 

III.    The  Relation  of  Sex  to  Conduct 35 

,  IV.     The  Relation  of  Mind  and  Body  to  Character 47 

L /    V.  Coniparative  Influence  of  Herejiity  and  Environ- 
ment on  Conduct 65 

VI.  Comparative  Influence  of  Heredity  and  Environ- 
ment on  Conduct  {concluded) 77 

VII.    The  Growing  Relaxation  of  Home  Discipline 95 

VIII.     Can  Our  Schools  Save  Our  Boys ? in 

IX.  The  Need  of  Physical  Culture  in  Our  Public  Schools  1 29 

X.    The  Hygienic  and  Social  Value  of  Play 145 

XI.     Our  Unhealthy  Public  Moral  Sentiment 159 

XII.    Our  Peculiar  Social  Problems 175 

XIII.     Punishment  as  a  Deterrent  from  Crime 193 

XIV.     Reformation 211 

XV.     Prevention 223 


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'*  Every  delinquent  child  is  a  defrauded  child — it  has  been  despoiled  of  its 
birthright,  the  right  to  be  well  bred  and  well  taught;  it  is  a  living  indictment  of 
society  for  its  neglect  and  indifference." 

"  We  think  of  crime  very  much  as  we  think  of  disease.  We  expect  to  find 
both  wherever  the  conditions  exist,  and  expect  both  to  disappear  when  the  condi- 
tions are  removed." 

"  Every  community  has  just  the  number  of  criminals  that  it  deserves  ^  and 
deserves  just  the  number  that  it  has." 

"It  is  a  significant  coincident  that  the  world's  greatest  criminals,  as  well  as 
its  greatest  heroes,  have  been  young  men.  Lack  of  self  control  and  misdirected 
energies  led  one  class  to  excess  and  crime,  and  self  control  and  properly  directed 
energies  led  the  other  to  success  and  fame." 

"Not  only  the  needs  but  the  actual  rights  of  children  have  increased  more 
rapidly  than  most  parents  realize.  Just  in  proportion  as  society  imposes  new 
responsibilities  upon  its  individual  members,  just  in  that  proportion  do  the 
rights  of  children  increase." 

"For  parents  to  attempt  to  escape  their  individual  responsibilities  is  like  one 
attempting  to  flee  from  his  own  shadow." 

"Cruelty  will  no  more  prevent  crime  than  almsgiving  will  prevent  mendi- 
cancy." 


AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS 
IN   THE  MAKING 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The  chapters  in  this  unpretentious  volume  consist 
chiefly  of  pubHshed  articles  and  public  addresses  which 
have  been  written  and  delivered  from  time  to  time  by 
the  author  since  his  experience  as  physician  and  assist- 
ant warden  of  the  Kentucky  Penitentiary  during  the 
years  1896-97-98.  They  have  recently  been  carefully 
revised  to  bring  them  up  to  date,  but  the  original  pur- 
pose of  trying  to  awaken  pareiits  to  a  realization  of  the 
appalling  record  made  by  our  boys  in  the  criminal  an- 
nals of  the  country  has  been  steadily  upheld. 

For  centuries  our  civilization  clung  so  tenaciously  to 
fatalistic  teachings,  and  an  exaggerated  belief  in  the 
influence  of  heredity  on  conduct,  that  we  were  begin- 
ning to  look  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  undersocial 
world  as  permanently  'doomed  to  a  life  of  misery  and 
vice,  and  to  think  of  crime  as  a  fixed  characteristic, 
amenable  only  to  repression  and  intimidation.  It  was 
easy  for  us  to  beheve  that  it  was  our  boys  that  were 
soon  to  take  charge  of  the  government,  fight  our  battles, 
fill  our  pulpits  and  professors'  chairs,  but  we  could  not 
realize  that  it  was  our  boys  also  that  were  filling  our 


2  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

jails  and  penitentiaries,  and  furnishing  recruits  for  the 
ever-increasing  army  of  tramps  and  incompetents. 
We  deluded  ourselves  by  believing  that  it  was  our  boys 
that  were  filling  the  one  and  our  neighbors'  boys  that 
were  fiUing  the  other.  Not  until  within  the  last  few 
decades  did  we  fully  appreciate  the  fact  that  since  the 
community  is  composed  of  family  units,  as  the  family 
is  composed  of  child  units,  our  neighbors'  boys  are, 
socially,  our  boys,  and  that  we  have  a  vital  interest  in 
their  welfare  and  are,  in  a  measure,  responsible  for  their 
conduct. 

I  confess  that,  not  until  I  assumed  my  duties  at  the 
Kentucky  Penitentiary,  did  I  fully  realize  that  boys 
and  young  men  comprise  so  large  a  proportion  of  prison 
inmates.  At  that  time  the  state  had  no  reformatories 
for  youthful  offenders,  and  as  a  consequence  all  state 
convicts  were  sent  to  the  state  prison.  I  had  been  a 
frequent  visitor  to  the  prison,  and  had  been  a  member 
of  more  than  one  legislative  committee,  appointed  to 
visit  and  investigate  its  condition,  yet  not  until  I 
became  officially  connected  with  that  institution,  and 
had  made  some  personal  investigation  into  the  early 
life  of  the  inmates,  was  I  convinced  that  juvenile  and 
adult  crime  are  so  intimately  connected;  that  condi- 
tions which  favor  the  one  nearly  always  favor  the  other, 
and  that  the  juvenile  offenders  of  one  generation  usually 
become  the  adult  offenders  of  the  next.  I  found  that 
out  of  an  average  of  about  fifteen  hundred  male  prison- 


INTRODUCTORY.  3 

ers  there  were  usually  between  two  and  three  hundred 
boys  and  young  men  under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  I 
noticed,  too,  that  this  large  proportion  was  maintained 
in  the  almost  continuous  stream  of  newcomers.  Among 
these  recruits  were  many  lads  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
years  of  age,  who  were  not  infrequently  loaded  down 
with  chains,  ostensibly  to  prevent  them  from  escaping 
from  vigilant  guards,  on  their  way  to  prison,  but  in 
reaUty  to  better  enable  those  guards  to  embrace  the 
opportunities  afforded  them  to  satiate  their  thirst 
for  strong  drink.  Nearly  all  the  boys  showed  by  their 
person  and  clothing  that  they  had  just  emerged  from 
some  unclean  county  jail.  After  inquiring  of  several 
hundred  of  these  boys,  and  later  upon  a  personal  in- 
spection of  more  than  half  of  the  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teen county  jails  in  the  state,  I  learned  what  I  had  long 
suspected,  that  most  of  these  jails  were  loathesome 
disease  and  crime-breeding  dens,  maintained  at  public 
expense.  The  rule,  with  very  few  exceptions,  was  that 
prisoners  of  all  ages  and  all  degrees  of  criminaHty  were 
crowded  into  one  large  room,  or  into  adjoining  rooms 
opening  into  a  large  corridor,  where  boys  of  tender 
years  were  forced  to  Hsten  to  the  vile  language  and 
learn  the  evil  habits  of  the  most  degraded  criminals. 
But  to  my  great  surprise  and  chagrin  I  found  that  con- 
ditions were  scarcely  better  in  the  state  prison.  Up  to 
that  time  very  httle  effort  had  been  made  to  separate 
the  youthful  from  the  more  hardened  inmates,  either 


4  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

by  day  or  night.  As  a  consequence,  evil  influences  and 
opportunities  to  contract  evil  habits  were  quite  as 
great,  if  not  greater,  than  in  the  county  or  city  jails. 

As  I  stood  day  after  day  at  the  entrance  and  exit 
gates,  watching  the  boys  coming  and  going,  I  became 
more  and  more  impressed  with  the  awful  part  the  state 
and  society  were  playing  in  this  human  drama.  Very 
few  boys  were  so  bad  when  they  entered  that  they  were 
not  worse  when  they  left,  and  very  few  were  so  anxious 
to  leave  at  the  expiration  of  their  terms,  but  gave 
evidence  of  indescribable  sadness  over  the  gloomy 
prospects  before  them. 

Prison  contractors  were  often  seen  at  the  entrance 
gate  scanning  new  arrivals  for  suitable  young  men  to 
assign  to  some  of  the  most  difficult  and  degrading  labor 
in  the  shops,  where  even  the  stoutest  often  failed.  If  a 
consignment  of  prisoners  consisted  chiefly  of  old  men 
or  unhkely  looking  boys,  the  contractors  would  invari- 
ably give  unmistakable  evidence  of  keen  disappoint- 
ment, or  even  disgust,  but  if  they  were  mostly  healthy, 
athletic-looking  young  men  the  contractors  would 
fairly  gloat  over  their  good  fortune.  They  would 
examine  the  most  promising-looking  boys  as  carefully 
as  a  man  would  examine  a  horse  he  was  about  to  pur- 
chase, or  as  a  slave  buyer  before  the  Civil  War  would 
have  examined  a  slave  offered  for  sale. 

I  traced  more  than  five  hundred  of  these  boys  to  their 
individual  homes,  visiting  many  of  them  in  person,  and 


INTRODUCTORY.  5 

not  in  a  single  instance  did  I  find  one  from  that  which 
could  be  called  a  model  home,  while  the  direct  home 
influences  of  fully  ninety-five  per  cent,  were  positively 
bad,  and  the  surrounding  influences  of  most  of  the 
others  certainly  not  good.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
the  education  of  such  boys  was  rudimentary  in  the 
extreme,  and  that  their  moral  sense  corresponded 
rather  closely  to  the  low  state  of  morals  in  the  social 
sphere  in  which  they  were  brought  up.  Intellectually 
they  were  easily  divided  into  three  distinct  classes. 
About  fifty  of  the  five  hundred  boys  whose  records  I 
kept  could  be  said  to  possess  rather  a  high  degree  of 
intelligence,  while  fifty  were  of  exceedingly  low  mental- 
ity. Four  of  the  latter  were  hysterical,  four  choreic,  two 
epileptic,  and  three  became  insane  while  in  prison. 
The  remaining  four  hundred  could  not  be  classified  as 
exceptionally  bright  or  exceptionally  dull,  and  yet  there 
was  a  peculiarity  about  them  which  would  readily  dis- 
tinguish them  from  a  group  of  school  boys  of  similar 
ages.  The  difficulty  did  not  appear  to  be  due  so  much 
to  brain  defect  as  to  arrested  or  retarded  mental  de- 
velopment brought  about  through  vicious  social  con- 
ditions and  lowered  nutrition.  Their  mental  horizon 
was  extremely  narrow  and  their  conception  of  Ufe  and 
its  duties  and  responsibiUties  was  limited  and  crude. 
These  conditions  greatly  improved  under  favorable 
and  encouraging  influences,  even  in  prison,  and  were 
immeasurably  aggravated  by  repression.     Punishment, 


6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

especially  by  the  use  of  the  strap,  appeared  to  fix  per- 
manently this  condition,  and  stamp  the  poor  victims 
ever  thereafter  as  criminals.  The  resentment  seemed 
not  to  be  directed  so  much  towards  the  person  that  in- 
flicted the  punishment  as  towards  society  whose  repre- 
sentative he  was  supposed  to  be.  This  resentment 
•  increased  as  the  months  and  years  passed  by  until  it 
poisoned  the  whole  life  of  the  prisoner.  Every  phase 
of  social  life  finally  came  to  be  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion. There  was  no  justice,  no  reHgion,  no  virtue. 
This  was  practically  the  experience  of  every  one,  without 
regard  to  age,  that  received  corporal  punishment  while 
in  prison. 

Two  classes  of  boys  were  easily  distinguishable  one 
from  the  other  by  their  physical  and  mental  bearing. 
A  very  large  proportion  of  those  charged  with  offenses 
against  the  person,  such  as  assaults  and  homicides, 
came  from  a  remote  portion  of  the  state.  They 
were  well  developed  physically,  fairly  intelligent,  good 
looking,  and  possessed  rather  a  high  moral  sense,  ex- 
cept that  they  were  over-tenacious  of  what  they  were 
pleased  to  call  their  personal  rights.  To  them  the  law 
was  too  slow  and  uncertain,  besides,  they  felt  it  to  be 
unmanly  not  to  resent  by  force  any  infringement  on 
their  individual  prerogatives.  The  broad  statement 
that  the  homes  of  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  boys  in 
prison  were  positively  bad  should,  in  the  case  of  these 
boys,  be  modified  to  the  extent  that  the  unwholesome- 


INTRODUCTORY.  7 

ness  or  badness  consisted  chiefly  in  the  toleration,  and 
even  the  encouragement,  of  this  spirit  of  revenge,  and 
the  use  of  force  in  the  settlement  of  personal  differences. 
As  a  natural  consequence  they  followed  their  belief 
in  the  right  to  carry  deadly  weapons  in  self  defense. 
The  records,  too,  showed  that  many  of  these  boys  were 
under  the  influence  of  strong  drink  when  the  offense 
for  which  they  were  convicted  was  committed. 

Given  these  three  conditions,  namely,  a  behef  in  per- 
sonal force,  the  right  to  carry  arms  in  time  of  peace, 
and  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors — and  we  have  a 
combination  of  social  conditions  difficult  to  improve 
upon  for  producing  violence  and  crime.  And  yet  the 
parents  of  many  of  these  boys  were  honest,  their  sisters 
were  chaste,  and  the  boys  themselves  were  brought  up 
to  attend  the  pubKc  schools,  the  churches,  and  the 
Sunday  schools  in  their  respective  communities.  The 
chief  social  defect  was  the  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
sanctity  of  human  life,  the  importance  of  self-control, 
and  a  recognition  of  the  majesty  of  the  law. 

On  the  other  hand,the  majority  of  those  boys  charged 
with  theft,  burglary  and  housebreaking  were  from  the 
cities,  especially  the  large  cities.  They  were  usually 
poorly  developed  physically,  many  of  them  being 
shrewd,  cunning  and  worldly  wise,  with  httle  moral 
sense,  especially  concerning  the  rights  of  property. 
The  homes  of  these  boys,  when  they  had  any,  were 


8  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

almost  uniformly  bad,  and  of  all  prisoners  they  were 
least  amenable  to  treatment. 

Occasionally  a  brutal  murderer  was  brought  from 
the  city,  and  occasionally  a  cunning  thief  was  brought 
from  the  remote  portion  of  the  state,  but  these  were 
the  exceptions  and  not  the  rule.  In  this  connection  I 
wish  to  make  special  mention  of  twenty-three  boys 
found  in  the  institution,  twelve  of  whom  were  the  only 
sons,  and  eleven  the  only  children  of  their  respective 
parents.  These  came  from  both  city  and  country,  but 
those  from  small  towns  predominated,  and  as  a  rule 
they  were  from  a  better  class  of  homes  than  the  average 
prisoner.  One  distinctive  characteristic  about  them 
was  the  childishness  of  their  natures;  they  were  con- 
stantly out  of  harmony  with  everybody  and  every- 
thing. A  disproportionate  number  of  them  had  been 
convicted  for  homicide  or  aggravated  assault,  upon  what 
appeared  from  the  evidence,  on  very  slight  provocation. 
One  was  serving  a  life  term  for  kiUing  his  fatlM,  while 
another  was  serving  a  life  term  for  kilUng  his  playmate 
because  he  would  not  carry  a  bucket  of  water. 

In  our  classes  among  the  boys  for  the  study  of  moral 
questions  it  was  as  difficult  to  convince  those  from  the 
remote  part  of  the  state  that  personal  rights  should  be 
subordinated  to  community  rights  as  it  was  to  convince 
the  other  class  that  the  community  had  a  vital  interest 
in  protecting  each  individual  in  his  personal  and  prop- 
erty rights.     Indeed,  it  was  almost  impossible,  by  mere 


INTRODUCTORY.  9 

abstract  reasoning,  to  get  either  class  to  understand 
why  the  community  should  be  interested  in  these 
questions,  or  to  get  them  even  to  understand  what  the 
word  community  meant.  Concrete  examples  of  reform 
and  brotherly  love,  even  in  prison,  were  worth  vastly 
more  in  expanding  their  mental  and  moral  perception 
than  all  possible  abstractions  and  efforts  at  repression. 

I  also  secured  a  brief  statement  of  the  early  life  his- 
tory of  2,400  white  adult  male  prisoners,  so  far  as  such 
a  statement  could  be  obtained.  These  were  susceptible 
of  practically  the  same  classification  as  were  the  boys, 
except  one  would  have  supposed  that  the  boys,  at 
maturity,  would  show  a  higher  average  intelligence 
than  did  these  men.  The  intelligence  of  fully  twenty 
per  cent,  was  decidedly  below  the  average,  while  five 
per  cent,  of  these,  or  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number, 
were  epileptic,  idiotic  or  insane.  The  intelligence  of 
thirty-five  per  cent,  was  fair,  of  forty  per  cent,  good, 
and  of  only  four  per  cent,  excellent.  About  thirty 
per  cent,  was  of  a  neurotic  temperament.  Although 
these  were  among  the  most  intelligent  prisoners,  they 
were  easily  provoked  to  anger  and  as  a  consequence 
were  frequently  in  trouble  with  one  another  and  with 
prison  officials. 

In  nearly  every  instance,  even  among  the  most  in- 
teUigent  pr  isoners,  there  was  an  apparent  lack  of  moral 
perception  and  of  an  appreciation  of  the  duties  and 
responsibihties  of  good  citizenship. 


lO  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

Although  prisoners  from  the  large  cities  charged  with 
homicide  were  usually  of  a  very  low  grade  of  intelligence, 
many  of  those  from  the  country  and  smaller  towns 
charged  with  homicide  were  among  the  most  intelligent 
prisoners.  Among  these  I  remember  two  former  prom- 
inent citizens  from  the  remote  portion  of  the  state 
who  believed  in  the  Mosaic  Law,  "An  eye  for  an  eye 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth'';  two  prominent  doctors  with 
ungovernable  tempers,  one  prominent  judge  who 
believed  in  the  unwritten  law,  and  one  petted  and 
spoiled  youngest  son  of  a  widowed  mother.  Those 
charged  with  embezzlement  or  forgery  and  those 
charged  with  a  certain  class  of  burglary — as  diamond 
and  jewelry  thieves — ^possessed  a  certain  suave,  cun- 
ning shrewdness  that  gave  them  the  appearance  of 
being  extra  clever  intellectually,  yet  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  them  soon  showed  this  to  be  extremely 
superficial.  With  the  exception  of  three  of  the  four 
doctors,  who  had  graduated  at  medical  colleges,  not 
one  of  the  2,400  prisoners  was  a  college  graduate.  Only 
a  very  small  proportion  had  advanced  beyond  the 
common  school  course,  while  the  vast  majority  of  them 
could  scarcely  read  and  write.  Upon  inquiry  it  was 
learned  that  much  of  the  superficial  education  of  many 
of  these  prisoners  had  been  picked  up  at  odd  times  since 
their  majority  and  much  of  it  since  their  incarceration. 
Only  three  embezzlers,  one  forger,  one  doctor  and  one 
lawyer  had  ever  been  worth  as  much  as  five  thousand 


INTRODUCTORY.  II 

dollars;  fourteen  others  claimed  to  have  been  worth 
half  that  sum,  while  less  than  fifty  had  been  worth  as 
much  as  one  thousand  dollars.  The  vast  majority  of 
them  had  never  had  homes  of  their  own  and  compara- 
tively few  claimed  to  have  had  good  homes  when  they 
were  children.  More  than  seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
those  charged  with  offenses  against  the  person,  assault 
and  homicide,  attributed  their  downfall  to  intoxicating 
liquors. 

Many  of  the  young  adult  prisoners,  especially  those 
serving  their  first  terms,  appeared  to  respond  even  more 
readily  to  kind  and  encouraging  treatment  than  did  the 
boys.  They  appeared  to  fully  realize  their  unfortunate 
condition  and  to  be  fully  determined  in  their  future 
course,  while  the  boys  appeared  to  be  simply  drifting 
like  a  ship  without  a  rudder. 

As  captain  of  volunteers  in  the  Spanish  American 
War,  I  noticed  that  boys  of  good,  sound  intellect  and 
with  a  history  of  good  home  influences  were  seldom 
found  in  the  guard  house  or  on  the  Hst  of  deserters. 
During  the  winter  of  1898-9  I  made  frequent  visits  to 
the  different  guard  houses  in  a  camp  of  some  ten  thous- 
and men,  mostly  young  volunteers,  and  learned,  by  talk- 
ing with  the  prisoners  themselves,  that  in  nearly  every 
case  their  home  influences  were  not  what  they  should 
have  been.  It  appeared  that  the  parents  of  many  of 
these  young  men  were  good  meaning  people,  but  were 
evidently  lax  in  home  disciphne  and  allowed  evil  tenden- 


12  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

cies  in  their  boys  to  develop  into  evil  habits.  Much  of 
the  sickness  and  high  rate  of  mortality  during  this  brief 
campaign  was  directly  chargeable  to  the  lack  of  proper 
home  and  school  training  in  the  laws  of  hygiene  and 
sanitation.  The  testimony  of  the  inspectors  appointed 
to  investigate  the  cause  of  so  much  sickness  in  these 
southern  camps  during  the  early  days  of  mobiHzation 
was  unanimous  that  the  fault  was  chiefly  due  to  the 
total  disregard  of  all  sanitary  rules  and  regulations  by 
these  young  recruits.  The  recklessness,  too,  with 
which  many  of  these  young  men  plunged  into  dissipa- 
tion, in  the  cities,  was  another  evidence  of  the  lack  of 
proper  home  instruction  on  the  evils  of  strong  drink 
and  the  dangers  of  social  diseases  that  lurk  in  the  dens 
of  vice  and  immorality.  But  in  no  other  respect  was 
the  dereliction  of  home  and  school  more  in  evidence 
than  in  the  lack  of  physical  training  of  these  young 
patriots  who  answered  the  call  of  their  country  in  time 
of  need.  Although  they  entered  eagerly  and  enthusi- 
astically into  all  the  drills  and  exercises,  the  ordeal  was 
an  extremely  trying  one.  Without  the  co-ordination 
and  cor-relation  of  the  physical  and  psychical  forces 
which  can  come  only  through  early  home  and  school 
training,  the  overstrain,  through  hurried  drills  and 
forced  exercises,  brought  untold  suffering  and  lasting 
injury  to  thousands  of  these  young  men. 

One  striking  American  boy  characteristic  everywhere 
manifest  among  these  young  volunteers  was  their  evi- 


INTRODUCTORY.  I 3 

dent  dislike  to  show  even  proper  respect  to  those  of 
higher  rank  or  station.  The  outcropping  of  that  demo- 
cratic teaching  of  which  we  all  like  to  boast,  that  in  a 
free  country  like  ours  neither  rank  nor  birth  entitles 
one  person  to  more  respect  than  another,  was  every- 
where in  evidence.  It  appeared  especially  repugnant 
to  the  democratic  feelings  of  a  large  number  of  these 
young  men  to  be  forced  to  salute  their  officers.  What- 
ever may  be  the  merits  or  demerits  of  these  well  re- 
cognized American  boy  characteristics,  they  have 
doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  the  difficulty  experi- 
enced in  this  country  of  securing  discipUne  in  our  schools 
and  in  the  army.  Although  they  have  doubtless  been 
potent  factors  in  the  splendid  independence  of  the 
American  boy,  in  his  recognized  capacity  to  take  care 
of  himself  in  time  of  great  emergencies;  in  his  bravery 
on  the  field  of  battle  and  in  his  manly  bearing  wherever 
he  has  appeared  as  an  American  soldier  or  sailor  around 
the  world,  yet  they  have  also  been  potent  factors  in  his 
frequent  dehnquencies  and  his  frequent  desertions 
from  the  army  and  navy.  His  love  of  liberty  and  dis- 
like of  restraint,  therefore,  constitute  his  greatest 
strength  and  his  greatest  weakness.  To  readjust  our 
system  of  home  and  school  training  so  as  to  remedy  the 
evils  without  impairing  the  good  is  evidently  one  of  the 
great  social  problems  of  the  future. 

As  a  probation  officer,  my  observation  has  been  that 
when  a  boy  from  even  a  fairly  good  home  is  brought 


14  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN    THE   MAKING. 

before  the  juvenile  court  he  is  usually  lacking  in  intel- 
lectual acumen,  or,  at  least,  in  will  power,  or  he  has 
fallen  through  evil  associates.  Indeed,  in  the  vast 
majority  of  these  cases,  all  of  these  conditions  prevail. 
Parents  are  usually  slow  to  imderstand  that  their  child- 
ren often  differ  as  much  in  intellectual  capabilities  as 
they  do  in  form  and  feature  and  that  what  is  proper 
training  for  one  child  is  not  always  proper  training  for 
another.  Both  parents  and  teachers  often  fail  to 
understand  that  a  child  needs  special  training  just  in 
proportion  as  it  differs  from,  especially  falls  below,  its 
brothers  and  sisters  or  the  average  of  its  class  in  intel- 
lectual or  moral  perception,  and  when  it  fails  to  receive 
this  special  training  it  is  to  that  extent  a  neglected 
child.  The  story  of  delinquency,  therefore,  is  in  a 
great  measure  the  story  of  indifference  and  neglect, 
whether  it  be  in  the  palace  of  the  rich  or  the  hovel  of 
the  poor.  Scientific  training  for  the  highest  social 
efficiency  implies  a  knowledge  of  the  activities  and 
susceptibilities  of  both  child  and  adult  mind,  not  in  the 
old  metaphysical  or  theological,  but  in  the  modern 
psychological  sense,  as  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  in- 
dividual himself,  and  largely  as  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
nutrition  upon  which  he  subsists.  Thus  understood, 
both  the  child  and  the  man  become  something  tangible, 
physically,  mentally  and  morally,  upon  which  forces 
and  influences  may  act  and  react,  producing  almost 
innumerable  changes  and  modifications. 


INTRODUCTORY.  I  $ 

We  had  drifted  so  far  into  the  fatalistic  behefs,  and  a 
belief  in  the  influence  of  heredity  upon  character,  that 
it  was  difficult  for  even  the  most  thoughtful  to  realize 
how  much  depended  upon  circumstances.  We  had 
come  to  think  of  Nature's  laws  pertaining  to  develop- 
ment and  growth  as  inexorable.  "Like  begets  like" 
had  become  axiomatic.  But  recently  we  have  pro- 
gressed somewhat,  and  we  now  modify  the  old  theory 
by  saying  that  like  tends  to  beget  like,  and  admit  the 
possibility  of  almost  endless  changes  and  modifications, 
as  exemplified  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  world. 
With  unsanitary  surroundings  and  defective  nutrition 
we  expect  disease  and  defective  physical  development; 
with  diseased  or  disordered  brain  tissue  we  expect  de- 
fective mentahty,  and  likewise  with  vicious  moral 
influences  we  expect  distorted  moral  hves.  We  now 
very  rarely  think  of  perversity  by  intuition  alone.  If 
the  home  and  its  surrounding  influences  are  what  they 
should  be  we  think  of  perversity  as  being  the  result  of 
defective  mentality  rather  than  of  defective  moral 
sensibiHties.  With  a  normal  body  and  a  normal  mind 
we  expect  character  to  be  fashioned  and  shaped  largely 
according  to  the  forces  and  influences  that  act  upon  the 
individual  as  a  whole,  especially  during  the  formative 
period  of  Hfe.  We  think  of  crime  very  much  as  we 
think  of  disease.  We  expect  to  find  both  wherever  the 
conditions  exist,  and  expect  both  to  disappear  when  the 
conditions  are  removed.     This  renders  it  necessary  to 


1 6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

Study  causes  as  well  as  symptoms,  and  to  consider  in- 
dividuals as  well  as  classes. 

At  the  very  threshold  of  such  an  investigation  we  are 
confronted  with  innumerable  contradictions  to  the 
high-sounding  declaration,  ''All  men  are  bom  free  and 
equal."  We  find  that  as  individuals  differ  in  their 
susceptibilities  to  infectious  diseases,  so  they  differ  in 
their  susceptibiUties  to  temptations  to  wrong  doing. 
This  is  even  true  of  persons  of  equal  inteUigence  and 
equal  opportunities,  but  especially  true  of  persons  of 
varying  degreees  of  intelligence  and  widely  diifering 
opportunities.  Persons  of  the  so-called  neurotic  tem- 
perament are  easily  provoked  to  anger;  those  of  weak 
wills  yield  readily  to  temptations,  while  those  of  hmited 
intelligence  are  unable  to  distinguish  properly  between 
right  and  wrong.  Both  sex  and  age  are  found  to  exert 
a  far-reaching  influence  on  human  conduct.  About 
ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  crimes  of  this  country  are 
committed  by  males,  and  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  these 
crimes  are  committed  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
thirty-three  years  of  age. 

The  recognition  of  the  right  of  unfortunate  human 
beings  to  humane  treatment  while  languishing  behind 
prison  bars,  and  their  right  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
reform  and  re-establish  themselves  in  the  confidence 
of  their  fellow  men,  and  the  unquestioned  right  of 
children  to  be  properly  brought  up,  are  some  of  the  most 
noted  advancements  of  modern  civiUzation. 


INTRODUCTORY.  17 

Notwithstanding  the  great  advance  made  during 
recent  years  in  the  management  of  public  institutions 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  of  our  so-called  reforma- 
tories are  reformatories  in  name  only.  Incompetency 
and  cruelty  still  exist  in  many  institutions  supposed  to 
be  conducted  according  to  the  most  modern  reforma- 
tory methods.  Between  1895  and  1901,  I  visited  the 
prisons  and  reformatories  in  sixteen  of  our  states  and  in 
many  instances  I  found  that  the  severest  punishment 
was  regularly  inflicted  on  small  boys  in  state  institu- 
tions with  an  ugly  leather  strap  called  "grandmother's 
slipper '^  or  the  "breast  strap,"  but  I  could  not  see  that 
the  name  took  any  of  the  sting  or  humiliation  out  of 
the  punishment.  Again,  the  monotonous,  red  tape 
and  cold  mechanical  process  so  prevalent  in  many  in- 
dustrial schools  and  eleemosynary  institutions  may 
produce  human  machines  but  certainly  not  well- 
rounded  citizens.  The  disproportionate  number  of 
delinquents  found  among  those  reared  in  orphans' 
homes  show  that  children  are  not  adapted  to  any 
wholesale  plan  of  bringing  up.  Again,  it  is  not  gener- 
ally understood  that  overindulgence,  either  in  the  home 
or  institution,  is  often  as  fatal  to  efl&ciency  and  sys- 
tematic discipline  as  excessive  harshness.  Thoughtful 
and  enHghtened  sympathy  is  sympathy  systematized. 
It  is  the  consummation  of  the  axiom  "Humanity  is  best 
served  when  science  and  reason  are  united."  Thus 
the  beginning  of  wisdom  is  the  study  of  the  individual 


1 8  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

and  his  relation  to  his  environment,  particularly  during 
the  earlier,  more  plastic,  years  of  life.  In  the  days  of 
the  pref ormationist  and  when  heredity  was  the  controll- 
ing thought  the  child  was  looked  upon  as  a  Httle  man. 
Now  we  know  that  the  difference  in  size  and  weight  are 
the  least  of  the  differences  between  the  boy  and  the 
man.  Aside  from  the  vast  dissimilarity  in  their  quanti- 
tative physical  constituents,  mentahty  and  spiritualty 
are  scarcely  more  than  latent  potentialities  at  birth. 
These  potentiaHties  do  not  grow  into  the  highest  type 
of  manhood  and  womanhood  by  chance,  but  conform, 
in  large  degree,  to  the  forces  and  influences  that  act 
upon  them  during  the  period  of  greatest  growth  and 
development. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INFLUENCE   OF  AGE   ON  CONDUCT. 

The  powerful  influence  of  age  on  conduct  is  the  most 
characteristic  feature  of  wrongdoing.  ^Criminal  statis- 
tics of  all  civilized  countries  unite  in  showing  that  the 
greater  proportion  of  crime  is  committed  during  the 
early  adult  years  of  life.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  all  crimes, 
and  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  grave  crimes,  are  perpetrated 
by  young  persons,  chiefly  young  men,  under  thirty 
years  of  age,  nearly  forty  per  cent,  being  committed 
during  the  period  between  twenty  and  thirty,  and  more 
than  twenty-five  per  cent,  during  the  period  between 
twenty  and  twenty-five  years. 

Following  a  well-defined  age  curve,  crime  increases 
gradually  up  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  makes  a  tre- 
mendous bound  between  fifteen  and  twenty,  and  a  still 
greater  leap  between  twenty  and  twenty-five,  decHning 
gradually  up  to  seventy,  when  it  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. The  first  great  crisis  comes  before  the  develop- 
ment of  the  will,  just  as  childhood  reUnquishes  its 
claims  to  those  of  youth,  when  the  senses  and  emotions 
overbalance  reason  and  judgment,  and  the  first  contact 
with  the  world  is  experienced.     The  cHmax  follows 

19 


20  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

when  the  parental  roof  is  abandoned,  when  the  ties  of 
the  home  and  the  school  circles  are  broken,  when  the 
individual  responsibiHties  present  themselves,  and 
when  the  social  and  the  industrial  activities  are  actually 
assumed  and  the  real  breakers  of  hfe  are  encountered. 
These  crises,  too,  fairly  represent  the  different  stages 
of  development  of  the  individual  organism,  some  of 
which  are  more  or  less  antisocial  in  their  nature. 

The  change  from  childhood  to  youth  is  not  the 
simple,  uniform  process  it  was  once  supposed  to  be. 
The  complexity  of  organs  and  functions  and  their 
mutual  interdependence  makes  this  the  most  critical 
period  of  Hfe.  In  addition  to  the  normal  rhythms, 
temporary  arrests,  and  sudden  leaps  and  bounds  in 
both  physical  and  mental  development,  complications 
often  arise  which  affect  the  entire  future.  The  rapid 
unfoldment  of  the  great  mysteries  of  life,  physical, 
mental,  and  spiritual,  ushers  one  into  a  new  world. 

Until  this  period  is  reached  children  are  usually  pro- 
vided with  food,  raiment  and  shelter.  While  engaged 
in  their  amusements,  they  take  little  cognizance  of,  and 
are  Httle  influenced  by,  the  actions  of  adults,  and  they 
learn  comparatively  nothing  of  the  complex  social  and 
industrial  forces  with  which,  in  after  life,  they  will  have 
to  contend.  At  this  age  the  increased  metaboUsm,  the 
increased  blood  pressure,  the  slightly  increased  temper- 
ature, the  rapid  annual  increase  in  height,  weight  and 
strength,  the  development  of  organs  and  functions. 


INFLUENCE    OF   AGE    ON   CONDUCT.  21 

and  the  augmentation  of  personality,  call  for  physical 
and  psychic  activities  hitherto  undreamed  of.  To  say, 
then,  that  the  boy  is  like  a  live  wire,  or  like  a  little 
steam  engine,  is  not  inapt. 

Thus,  the  adolescent  youth,  amid  such  rapid  shifting 
of  scenes  that  it  is  often  difficult  for  even  the  most 
stable  characters  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  changed 
conditions  around  them,  becomes  an  actor  in  the  great 
drama  of  life  with  but  little  knowledge  either  of  himself 
or  of  the  world.  Youths,  otherwise  apparently  normal, 
often  have  a  vague  feeling  of  loneliness,  of  inferiority, 
of  being  neglected,  or  even  of  being  despised  by  parents 
or  friends.  At  such  times  a  slight  disappointment  or 
a  mild  rebuke  will  have  the  most  crushing  effect. 
These  imaginary  wrongs  not  infrequently  lead  to  sui- 
cide, chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  punishing  others,  or, 
later,  follows  suicide  on  account  of  disappointment  in 
love,  failure  to  pass  examinations,  or,  perhaps,  to  realize 
high  ideals  and  great  expectations  dreamed  of  and  often 
erroneously  fostered  in  youth. 

The  desire  so  common  among  young  persons  during 
this  stage  of  development  to  resist  the  restraints  im- 
posed by  legalized  authority,  to  leave  home,  to  see 
more  of  the  world,  or  to  engage  in  business,  marks  the 
rapid  evolution  of  personality.  Heretofore  their 
thoughts  have  been  chiefly  objective,  but  now  intro- 
spection begins.  Personality  projects  itself  into  the 
inner  consciousness,  and  an  individuality  separate  and 


2  2  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

distinct  from  surrounding  objects  and  individuals,  is 
realized.  The  adolescent  youth,  therefore,  is  no  longer 
a  child,  neither  is  he  yet  a  man.  This  unique  position 
he  understands  but  vaguely.  Owing  to  the  rapid  un- 
folding of  instincts,  normal  at  this  period,  he  no  longer 
seeks  the  companionship  of  children  or  dehghts  in 
childish  amusements,  yet  he  reaHzes  that  he  is  far  from 
being  prepared  for  initiation  into  the  high  priestcraft 
of  full  manhood.  He  is  much  like  a  vessel  stranded  in 
the  darkness,  trying  to  cast  anchor  or  to  reach  the  shore. 

This  is  the  time  for  joining  clubs,  gangs  and  other 
organizations,  and,  more  than  at  any  other  period  of  hf  e, 
the  time  for  forming  strong  attachments,  especially  for 
older  associates.  It  is  pre-eminently  the  time,  also, 
of  the  greatest  susceptibiUty  to  the  influence  of  books 
and  companions,  whether  good  or  bad. 

Suggestion,  a  powerful  crime  factor  everyivhere,  is 
especially  potent  in  all  juvenile  wrongdoing.  Children 
imitate  in  their  daily  lives  that  which  they  see  others 
do,  or  that  which  is  suggested  by  reading  or  conversa- 
tion. Pages  and  other  youthful  attendants  upon 
Congress  and  State  Legislatures  organize  junior  assem- 
bUes,  provide  smoking  rooms,  pass  salary  grabs,  bribe 
members  and  provide  easy  berths  for  needy  friends, 
just  as  they  see  it  done  by  the  leaders  in  political  life. 
Boys  are  arrested  regularly,  especially  in  the  West, 
while  trying  to  wreck  trains,  just  as  such  action  has 
been  described  in  detail  in  books  found  in  their  pos- 


INFLUENCE    OF   AGE    ON   CONDUCT.  23 

session.  A  large  number  of  children  are  killed  each 
year  in  the  United  States  by  their  small  brothers  or 
companions  while  trying  to  imitate  the  reckless  cow- 
boy or  Indian  warrior  they  saw  in  the  Wild  West  show. 
I  was  once  called  to  the  country  to  treat  a  seventeen- 
year-old  lad  who  had  fallen  while  trying  to  walk  a  rope, 
as  he  had  seen  it  done  at  a  circus  the  day  before.  An- 
other illustration  of  the  power  of  suggestion  was  thrust 
upon  me  at  one  time  while  passing  a  wooded  lot  on  the 
outskirts  of  a  central  Kentucky  town,  when  I  came 
upon  half  a  score  of  disguised  street  urchins  who  were 
trying  to  hang  a  negro  boy,  as  a  mob  had  hanged  a 
negro  man  to  a  nearby  railroad  bridge,  the  previous 
night.  Only  recently,  in  a  Southern  state,  according 
to  popular  newspaper  reports,  while  conducting  a 
celebrated  trial  in  which  members  of  a  Night  Riders' 
Association  were  charged  with  an  atrocious  murder, 
and  in  which  many  of  the  misdeeds  of  that  organization 
were  made  public,  a  judge  was  forced  to  take  steps  to 
prevent  the  formation  of  a  similar  society  by  the  small 
boys  of  the  town. 

*  But  the  most  fruitful  source  of  juvenile  delinquency, 
chiefly  the  result  of  vicious  sanitary  and  social  condi- 
tions, is  defective  mental  and  moral  perception.  A 
majority  of  youthful  offenders  are  mentally  and  morally 
astygmatic.  This  is  usually  due  either  to  a  lack  of 
proper  intellectual  endowment,  a  temporary  arrest  of 
mental  development,  an  undue  augmentation  of  some 


24  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

instinct,  or  the  power  of  inhibition  may  be  retarded. 
Sense  perception  is  often  hampered  by  the  impairment 
of  the  sense  organs.  The  gates  between  the  mind  and 
the  outer  world,  instead  of  being  wide  open,  are  often 
only  ajar,  and  some  are  entirely  closed ;  but  the  moral 
sense  may  be  completely  blinded  by  lack  of  early  train- 
ing, and  by  early  unwholesome  influences,  even  when 
the  sense  organs  are  intact  and  the  intellectual  faculties 
normal. 

A  boy  of  twelve  (with  whom  I  was  acquainted),  who 
killed  his  little  sister  left  in  his  care  and  buried  her  in 
the  sand,  because  she  interfered  with  a  fishing  expedi- 
tion, had  never  heard  of  God  except  as  his  father  had 
used  the  word  in  cursing  his  mother.  His  one  idea  of 
wrong  was  that  it  was  wrong  to  be  caught  stealing; 
theft  itself  was  inconsequential.  Such  children,  steeped 
in  vice  and  crime,  or  having  defective  mentahty,  see 
little  of  the  suffering  of  their  victims,  or  know  little  of 
the  value  of  the  property  they  destroy.  Small  wonder, 
therefore,  that  so  many  find  their  way  into  almshouses, 
reformatories  and  prisons.  Early  antisocial  tenden- 
cies of  normal  children  under  favorable  influences  are 
not  usually  pronounced,  but  merely  develop  along  lines 
of  least  resistance.  With  proper  home  influences  such 
children  are  ordinarily  carried  over  the  critical  period 
of  hfe  until  they  can  by  degrees  adjust  themselves  to 
the  new  order  of  things  imposed  upon  them  by  ad- 
vancing age  and  increased  social  and  industrial  respon- 


INFLUENCE    OF   AGE    ON   CONDUCT.  25 

sibilities.  Without  these  influences  this  is  but  the 
beginning  of  a  sorrowful  end.  What  appears  at  first 
to  be  only  nomadic  tendencies  develops  by  degrees  into 
vagrancy,  truancy,  and  incorrigibility.  Later,  as  the 
little  wanderer  strays  farther  and  farther  away  from 
home,  the  instinct  of  self  preservation  manifests  itself 
through  the  desire  for  food,  clothing  and  shelter;  and, 
in  order  to  obtain  these,  the  young  vagrant  becomes  a 
young  thief.  This  period  is  especially  characterized 
by  offenses  against  property.  At  first  it  is  the  fighter 
forms  of  petty  theft,  then,  as  he  approaches  manhood, 
his  physical  strength  increases,  the  timidity  and  ap- 
prehension that  clung  about  him  in  earfier  years  dis- 
appear, and  he  now  begins  bolder  operations.  Burg- 
lary, robbery,  house-breaking  and  safe-blowing  are 
substituted  for  the  vagrancy  and  petty  theft  of  boy- 
hood days.  Consequently,  the  age  for  offenses  against 
property  is  usually  higher  than  for  miscellaneous  of- 
fenses, vagrancy  and  offenses  against  society.  As  the 
individual  advances  in  years,  evil  associations  are 
formed  and  crimes  of  this  character  are  increased  so 
that  they  constitute  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  those  com- 
mitted between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five 
years,  after  which  they  gradually  decline.  As  age  in- 
creases, however,  up  to  a  certain  period  crime  increases, 
not  only  in  extent  but  also  in  seriousness.  As  full 
manhood  is  approached,  the  impulses  increase,  new 
difficulties  in  the  social  world  are  experienced,  conflicts 


2  6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

with  individuals  become  more  frequent  and  offenses 
against  the  person  usually  follow. 

Thus,  the  natural  evolution  of  the  criminal  is  from 
the  vagrant  to  the  petty  thief,  thence  to  the  burglar, 
and  lastly  to  the  murderer.  This,  perhaps,  is  not  in 
exact  accord  with  the  early  instincts  of  the  child,  but 
is  rather  along  the  Hne  in  which  they  are  permitted  to 
develop.  The  first  real  antisocial  tendency  of  the  child, 
while  it  is  largely  a  motor  creature  without  reason  or 
will,  is  to  commit  offenses  against  the  person.  But 
these  are  generally  trivial  in  their  nature  and  are  not 
taken  cognizance  of  by  the  law.  Offenses  against  the 
person  increase  not  only  in  number  but  also  in  serious- 
ness with  advancing  years.  Under  twenty  years  only 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  offenses  against  the  person  are 
homicides,  but  between  twenty  and  thirty,  thirty-six 
per  cent.,  and  between  thirty  and  forty,  forty-seven 
per  cent,  are  homicides. 

The  percentage  of  offenses  against  society  tends  to 
increase  steadily  from  one  decade  to  another  up  to 
seventy,  when  it  declines;  while  the  percentage  of  of- 
fenses against  property  diminishes  with  regularity  up 
to  seventy,  and  then  sHghtly  increases. 

For  both  sexes  the  number  of  prisoners  reaches  its 
maximum  between  twenty  and  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  but  for  males  the  percentages  are  larger  between 
fifteen  and  twenty-five,  while  for  females  the  percent- 
ages are  larger  between  thirty  and  forty-four  years  of 


INFLUENCE   OF   AGE    ON   CONDUCT.  27 

age.  Of  adult  prisoners  fully  ninety-five  per  cent,  are 
males,  while  the  number  of  males  among  juvenile  delin- 
quents reaches  only  eighty-five  per  cent.  More  than 
seventy  per  cent,  of  colored,  and  slightly  less  than  forty 
per  cent,  of  white,  adult  prisoners  are  under  thirty 
years  when  committed.  The  average  age  of  all  adult 
prisoners  is  about  twenty-eight  and  one-half  years, 
and  of  juveniles  fourteen  and  one-half. 

Although  comparatively  few  of  the  younger  class  of 
juvenile  delinquents  are  themselves  confirmed  inebri- 
ates, fifty  per  cent,  of  them  are  what  they  are  largely 
through  the  vicious  destitution  wrought  on  the  home 
by  the  intemperance  of  parents,  who  commenced  the 
drink  habit  in  early  Ufe.  Out  of  forty-eight  hundred 
prisoners  questioned  by  the  writer,  forty-eight  per  cent, 
admitted  that  they  were  occasional,  and  twenty-two 
per  cent,  more  that  they  were  habitual,  drunkards, 
when  convicted.  Many  of  these  prisoners  made  the 
significant  statement  that,  while  the  drink  habit  was 
commenced  before  their  majority,  and  while  the  desire 
was  very  pronounced  by  the  time  they  were  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  they  were  able  to  resist  excessive 
indulgence,  except  occasionally,  until  about  twenty- 
nine  years  of  age.  But  the  evidence  is  overwhelming 
that  a  comparatively  large  proportion  of  delinquent 
boys  are  cigarette  and  drug  users. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  juvenile  delinquents 
in  the  United  States,  from  14,846  in  1890  to  23,000  in 


2  8  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

1904,  does  not  necessarily  indicate  an  increase  in  the 
criminal  tendencies  of  children,  for  the  reason  that  they 
are  apprehended  for  much  lighter  offenses  since  the 
estabhshment  of  industrial  schools  and  juvenile  re- 
formatories. The  courts,  too,  are  less  reluctant  to  send 
juveniles  to  these  institutions  than  they  were  to  send 
them  to  prison.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  escaping  the 
humiliating  fact  that  juvenile  deHnquency  is  on  the 
increase,  that  youthful  criminals  are  becoming  more 
and  more  precocious,  and  that  recidivism  is  more  com- 
mon. An  average  monthly  conviction  of  one  thousand 
juveniles  and  twelve  thousand  adults  in  the  United 
States  is  Httle  less  than  appalhng. 

The  rapid  growth  of  our  cities  has  found  our  people 
unprepared  for  the  new  conditions  imposed  by  a  change 
from  sparsely  settled  rural  communities  into  restricted 
city  areas.  In  the  country  smaller  returns  for  labor 
suffice  for  support,  the  lines  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor  are  not  so  closely  drawn,  and  the  grinding,  crush- 
ing-out process  is  not  so  great.  The  employment  of 
children  in  unsanitary  and  crime-breeding  shops  and 
factories,  the  rapid  growth  of  slum  districts  and  the 
wide-spread  social  and  industrial  spirit  which  has 
robbed  home  of  much  of  its  significance  have  also 
contributed  to  this  anomalous  condition  of  the  increase 
of  crime  with  the  increase  of  education  and  advancing 
civihzation.  Statistics  show  that  the  home  influences 
of  fully  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  youthful  offenders  are 


INFLUENCE   OF   AGE   ON   CONDUCT.  29 

positively  bad,  and  that  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  these 
offenders  become  respectable,  law-abiding  citizens 
after  a  thorough  course  of  physical,  mental  and  moral 
training  in  industrial  and  reformatory  institutions. 

Equally  noteworthy  is  the  fact  that  practically  all 
children  taken  from  the  lower  walks  of  life,  even  from 
the  slums,  and  given  the  benefits  of  good  Christian 
homes,  justify  the  highest  expectations  of  their  bene- 
factors; while  those  who  are  left  to  struggle  with  ad- 
versity continue  to  gravitate  downward,  fall  into  the 
usual  paths  and  meet  the  usual  fate  of  such  surround- 
ings. So  potent  are  the  early  impressions  that,  if  the 
influences  of  the  home  for  good  are  positive  in  their 
nature,  the  character  of  the  child  is  practically  assured 
by  the  time  it  is  seven  or  eight  years  of  age.  There- 
after, the  chief  function  of  the  home  is  to  guide  and 
direct.  But  this  guiding  and  directing  must  also  be 
of  a  positive  nature.  As  moral  perception  is  even  later 
in  its  development  than  the  intellectual,  children  under 
fourteen  years  are  seldom  able  to  differentiate  between 
crimes  and  forbidden  offenses.  To  them  a  thing  is 
wrong  because  it  is  forbidden,  and  not  because  it  is  in 
itself  wrong.  So  the  ability  of  children  to  refrain  from 
evil  doing  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  influence  of 
their  superiors. 

In  tracing  the  early  history  of  lasting  impressions 
for  good  it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  like  impressions 
for  evil,   their  frequency  and  intensity  corresponds 


30  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN  THE   MAKING. 

rather  closely  with  certain  periods  of  physical  and 
mental  development.  ReHgious  impressions,  which 
are  vague  and  indefinite  during  infancy  and  early  child- 
hood, become  more  marked  and  more  clearly  defined 
at  the  approach  of  maturity.  The  subject  of  the  future 
state  is  one  of  the  most  persistent  of  the  many  complex 
questions  that  press  for  consideration  with  varying 
degrees  of  intensity  at  different  periods  of  adolescent 
Hfe.  Fully  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  conversions,  and 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  conversion  of  ministers  and 
active  church  workers,  occur  between  ten  and  twenty 
years  of  age,  the  average  age  for  girls  being  thirteen  and 
one-half,  and  for  boys  sixteen.  After  twenty,  the 
number  of  conversions  gradually  declines  by  five-year 
periods,  until  after  fifty,  when  they  are  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

In  the  buoyancy  and  optimism  of  youth  thoughts  of 
fabulous  wealth,  great  fame  or  much  learning  are 
common.  Often  there  is  a  desire  for  a  higher,  nobler 
life,  for  service  to  others,  or  for  an  ideal  moral  charac- 
ter. These  ambitions  and  their  accompanying  per- 
plexities and  perturbations  crowd  thickest  and  fastest 
at  a  time  when  the  sterner,  more  stable  qualities  which 
come  with  maturity  are  contending  for  the  mastery 
over  the  many  youthful  foibles  that  cling  tenaciously 
to  the  last,  some  of  which  not  infrequently  sHp  through 
the  meshes  of  this  transition  period  from  youth  to  man- 
hood, and  become  the  dominating  forces  in  the  after 


INFLUENCE    OF   AGE   ON   CONDUCT.  31 

life  of  the  individual.  The  lack  of  will  and  self  control 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  frequent  and  most  grievous 
faults  thus  transferred.  As  these  qualities  are  the 
chief  factors  in  the  formation  of  character,  and  are 
largely  that  which  distinguishes  the  man  from  the  lower 
animals,  and  the  rational  from  the  irrational,  the  lack 
of  them  becomes  a  fatal  defect  in  later  life. 

It  is  a  significant  co-incident  that  the  world's  greatest 
criminals,  as  well  as  its  greatest  heroes,  have  been  young 
men.  Lack  of  self  control  and  misdirected  energies 
led  one  class  into  excess  and  crime,  and  self  control  and 
properly  directed  energies  led  the  other  to  success  and 
fame.  Thus,  the  great  battle  for  supremacy  with  life's 
conflicting  forces  is  fought  and  won  or  lost  in  youth  and 
early  manhood.  But  the  real  foundation  for  success 
or  failure  is  laid  in  childhood  and  youth.  In  this  sense 
the  child  may  be  father  of  the  man,  but  he  is  in  no  sense 
a  little  man,  as  many  people  are  prone  to  think.  More 
is  needed  than  mere  weight  and  stature  to  make  of  him 
a  man.  He  needs  long  years  of  organization  of  tissue 
and  function.  This  evolutionary  process  is  so  delicate 
that  even  slight  interruption  may  lay  the  foundation 
for  grave  defects'of  body,  if  not  of  mind  and  character, 
in  after  life. 

Not  only  the  needs  but  the  actual  rights  of  children 
have  increased  more  rapidly  than  most  parents  realize. 
Just  in  proportion  as  society  imposes  new  responsibili- 
ties upon  its  individual  members,  just  in  that  proper- 


32  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

tion  do  the  rights  of  children  increase.  A  few  centuries 
ago  a  man^s  position  in  hfe  was  so  hedged  about  by 
tradition  and  custom  that  individuahty  was  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  He  was  expected  to  follow  the  trade 
of  his  father  and  take  only  such  part  in  public  affairs  as 
was  customary  for  one  of  his  station.  Since  the  in- 
auguration of  the  new  industrial  system  and  the  advent 
of  democracy  all  this  has  changed,  and  each  individual 
is  expected  to  select  his  own  occupation  and  make  his 
own  position  in  Ufe.  This  calls  for  greater  initiative 
and  increased  individuality.  With  each  advance  in 
civilization,  therefore,  come  increased  rights  of  children. 
To  be  prepared  for  the  highest  possibilities  in  our  over- 
complex  social  and  industrial  organism,  every  influence 
that  acts  upon  the  child  should  be  so  regulated  as  to 
insure  the  most  complete  development  of  all  the  facul- 
ties and  functions. 

Character  has  been,  not  inaptly,  likened  to  a  seed, 
and  society  to  the  soil  and  climate  in  which  it  grows. 
And  again,  it  has  been  compared  to  a  vine  whose  nature 
is  to  grow,  but  not  in  any  predetermined  direction,  but 
along  such  support  as  it  may  find  for  its  dehcate  ten- 
drils. The  seed,  the  soil  and  the  climate  are  necessary 
for  the  production  of  the  tree,  the  fruit  and  the  flower, 
but  what  the  tree,  the  fruit  and  the  flower  are  depends 
materially  upon  the  soil  and  the  climate. 

When  parents  come  to  understand,  therefore,  more 


INFLUENCE    OF   AGE    ON   CONDUCT.  33 

clearly  than  they  do  now — except  in  the  rare  exceptions 
— that  children  are  largely  what  their  training,  their 
association  and  nutrition  in  early  life  make  them,  there 
will  be  fewer  invaHds  in  society,  and  fewer  inmates  in 
our  prisons  and  reformatories. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  RELATION  OF  SEX  TO  CONDUCT. 

The  statistics  of  all  civilized  countries  unite,  not 
only  in  showing  that  criminality  is  much  more  manifest 
among  men  than  among  women,  but  also  that  under 
the  same  circumstances  and  the  same  social  conditions 
men  are  more  prone  to  criminal  tendencies.  In  1904 
seventy-nine  per  cent,  of  our  juvenile  reformatory  in- 
mates and  ninety-four  per  cent,  of  our  prison  population 
were  males. 

This  difference  in  the  criminal  tendencies  of  the  sexes 
is  doubtless  due  largely  to  the  difference  in  their  psycho- 
physical organization.  Woman's  emotional  nature, 
her  physiological  timidity  and  physical  inferiority  in- 
capacitate her  for  a  criminal  career,  while  her  restricted 
social  relations,  owing  to  her  peculiar  maternal  func- 
tions, lessen  her  temptations  and  opportunities  to 
commit  crime.  Aside  from  the  distinctive  and  funda- 
mental characteristics  of  the  two  sexes,  it  is  held  that 
the  dissimilarity  of  their  early  training  accounts  for 
much  of  the  disparity  in  their  later  social  development. 
From  this  point  of  view  it  is  argued  that  in  early  life  the 
girl  is  usually  kept  sacredly  within  the  precincts  of  the 

35 


36  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

home  while  the  boy  is  often  allowed  the  privilege  of  the 
streets  or  community;  that  evil  companions  are  scrupu- 
lously excluded  from  the  girl  and  recklessly  permitted 
with  the  boy;  and  that,  at  night,  the  girl  is  carefully 
tucked  away  in  bed  while  the  boy  is  allowed  to  keep  late 
hours  in  the  company  of  questionable  comrades.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  argued  that  there  is  a  halo  of  innocence 
and  purity — a  radiance  of  sacredness  and  sanctity — 
surrounding  the  small  girl  that  does  not  envelop  the 
boy,  and  that  there  is  a  sadness  associated  with  even 
the  possibihty  of  the  wrong-doing  of  the  girl  that  is  not 
felt  in  the  case  of  the  boy.  That  this  feehng  does 
exist,  to  a  large  extent,  among  parents  is  indicated  by 
their  greater  reluctance  to  surrender  their  daughters 
than  their  sons  to  benevolent  institutions,  sixty-five 
per  cent,  of  all  children  thus  surrendered,  and  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  of  those  abandoned  being  boys. 

As  the  social  and  industrial  sphere  of  early  girlhood 
and  even  of  later  womanhood  is  much  more  restricted, 
girls  and  women  have  fewer  temptations  and  provoca- 
tions to  manifest  abnormal  tendencies  than  have  boys 
and  men.  We  have  seemingly  good  authority  for  the 
theory  that  the  disparity  in  the  criminal  tendencies  of 
the  two  sexes  is  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  broadening 
of  the  social  and  industrial  sphere  of  the  female.  In 
the  great  centers  of  population,  where  women  are  em- 
ployed in  commercial  pursuits,  in  offices,  shops  and 
factories,  the  proportion  of  female  offenders  is  always 


RELATION  OF  SEX  TO  CONDUCT.         37 

greater  than  in  rural  districts.  Thus,  while  ninety-six 
per  cent,  of  the  inmates  of  our  state  prisons,  in  1890, 
were  males,  only  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  city  prisoners 
were  males.  The  next  largest  proportion  of  female 
offenders  is  found  in  the  vicinity  immediately  sur- 
rounding great  centers  of  population.  This  is  espec- 
ially shown  by  the  police  returns  from  the  cities  of 
London  and  Manchester  and  from  the  counties  of 
Surrey  and  Lancaster,  in  which  these  cities  are  respect- 
ively located.  In  the  Metropolitan  PoHce  District  of 
London,  one-fourth,  and  in  the  city  of  Manchester, 
one-third  of  the  summary  offenses  are  committed  by 
females;  while  only  about  one-tenth  of  the  offenses  in 
the  county  of  Surrey,  outside  of  the  Metropohtan  Pohce 
District,  and  one-seventh  of  those  in  the  county  of 
Lancaster,  outside  of  the  city  of  Manchester,  are  com- 
mitted by  females.  In  the  United  States  the  largest 
proportion  of  female  prisoners  is  found  in  the  oldest  and 
most  highly-civiHzed  group  of  northeastern  states,  in- 
cluding New  England,  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  In 
this  region  of  cities,  shops  and  factories,  females  form 
twelve  per  cent,  of  the  white  prison  population,  while 
they  constitute  only  four  per  cent,  of  the  white  prison 
population  for  the  remaining  portion  of  the  country. 
Again,  it  is  claimed  that  the  public  is  more  reluctant 
to  prefer  charges  and  that  officers  are  less  incKned  to 
arrest  and  incarcerate  female  than  male  offenders. 
This  is,  in  part,  due  to  the  universal  feeling  of  com- 


38  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

miseration  for  female  offenders,  and  partly  to  the  fact 
that  many  of  their  first  offenses  consist  largely  of  petty 
thefts,  such  as  the  taking  of  small  articles  by  domestic 
servants.  That  courts  and  juries  are  more  lenient  in 
deaHng  with  female  than  with  male  offenders  is  mani- 
fest from  the  much  larger  percentage  of  females  than 
of  males  who  are  acquitted,  under  what  appears  to  be 
the  same  evidence  and  same  circumstances.  The 
greater  percentage  of  females  in  the  industrial  schools 
and  reformatories,  as  compared  with  those  in  prison, 
also  indicates  that  the  courts  are  more  reluctant  to 
commit  them  to  prison.  The  tendency  to  vagrancy 
and  petty  theft  found  more  pronounced  in  females  than 
in  males  is  due,  not  to  age,  for  all  through  life  their 
offenses  are  usually  of  a  Hghter  character  and  are  less 
serious  in  their  nature.  Their  offenses  differ  from  those 
of  males  largely  for  the  same  reason  that  the  offenses 
of  children  differ  from  those  of  adults.  Like  children, 
even  if  they  had  the  mind  to  plan,  they  have  not  the 
courage  and  muscular  strength  to  commit  crimes  re- 
quiring great  daring  and  physical  abihty.  Her  fem- 
ininity, therefore,  as  expressed  in  mind  and  body, 
renders  woman  less  capable  than  man,  even  if  so  in- 
clined, to  commit  deeds  of  skill  and  daring.  Conse- 
quently, the  greater  proportion  of  crimes  against  the 
person  and  crimes  of  violence  are  committed  by  the 
male  portion  of  the  population.  Thus,  thirty-two  per 
cent,  of  the  male  prisoners  in  the  United  States,  enum- 


RELATION   OF   SEX   TO   CBNDUCT.  39 

crated  June  30, 1904,  were  charged  with  offenses  against 
the  person,  forty  per  cent,  of  which  were  homicides, 
while  only  eighteen  per  cent,  of  the  female  prisoners 
thus  enumerated  were  charged  with  offense  against  the 
person,  but  fifty-four  per  cent,  of  these  were  homicides. 
The  proportion  of  suicides  is  also  three  times  greater 
among  males  than  among  females.  Out  of  10,852 
suicides  in' the  United  States  in  1908,  as  reported  in  the 
pubHc  press,  7,864  were  males  and  2,988  females. 
There  is  only  one  period  in  life,  between  fifteen  and 
twenty,  when  suicide  between  the  sexes  even  ap- 
proaches an  equaUty  in  numbers.  During  this  five- 
year  period  there  is  even  an  excess  of  females  over  males, 
especially  in  some  European  countries,  notably  in  Eng- 
land. Although  women  are  more  precocious,  physi- 
cally and  mentally  than  men,  men  are  more  precocious 
in  criminaUty.  The  maximum  of  male  criminality  is 
reached  before  thirty  years  of  age,  while  the  maximum 
of  female  criminaHty  is  not  reached  until  after  thirty. 
This  explains,  to  some  extent,  why  more  woman  than 
men  criminals  are  married. 

A  larger  proportion  of  male  than  of  female  prisoners 
are  so-called  moderate  drinkers,  but  a  larger  proportion 
of  females  are  drunkards.  While  the  percentage  of 
illiteracy  is  sHghtly  higher  among  adult  female  than 
among  adult  male  prisoners,  it  is  shghtly  lower  among 
girls  in  reformatories  than  among  boys  in  these  institu- 
tions.    In  1904,  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  boys  and  nearly 


40  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN    THE    MAKING. 

ninety  per  cent,  of  the  girls  in  reformatories  could  read 
and  write,  while  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  the  men  and 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  women  in  prisons  could  read  and 
write. 

One  peculiarity  of  women  criminals  is  that,  while 
their  propensity  to  gossip  and  to  confide  in  friends,  es- 
pecially in  lovers,  often  leads  to  the  detection  of  their 
guilt,  when  confronted  in  court  they  are  more  persistent 
in  their  denials  than  men  criminals.  Their  absurd  and 
often  fantastic  pretexts  appear,  however,  to  be  more 
the  result  of  weak  logical  faculty  than  to  deep-seated 
perversity.  Owing  to  their  mental  and  moral  astyg- 
matism,  they  fail  to  comprehend  the  gravity  of  the  pro- 
ceedings or  to  realize  the  unfavorable  effect  on  the  court 
of  their  inconsistencies  and  contradictions.  They 
listen  with  the  greatest  complacency  to  the  most  dam- 
aging evidence  against  them  and  continue  their  denials 
with  a  persistency  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  Their 
arts  of  dissimulation,  which  serve  them  so  well  in  the 
minor  affairs  of  life,  become  too  patent  when  pitted 
against  the  stern  logic  in  court,  yet  they  not  infre- 
quently escape  merited  punishment  by  imposing  upon 
the  credulity  of  the  court  and  jury.  So  susceptible  are 
they  to  suggestion,  even  to  auto-suggestion,  that  in 
time  they  really  come  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  their 
oft-repeated  misstatements. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  in  this  connection,  that  emotion- 
alism is  not  limited  to  mental  processes,  but  includes  all 


RELATION  OF  SEX  TO  CONDUCT.        4 1 

t 

associated  and  accompanying  vaso-motor  and  neuro- 
muscular manifestations.  The  muscular  agitation  and 
cardiac  acceleration  in  anger,  the  pallor  and  muscular 
quivering  in  fear,  and  the  blushing  in  embarrassment 
are  as  truly  emotional  as  the  psychic  phenomena  them- 
selves. Emotion,  therefore,  is  physical  as  well  as 
psychical,  and  in  all  highly  emotional  states  the  higher 
ideational  centers  are,  in  a  measure,  subordinated  to 
the  lower  subconscious  activities.  To  say,  then,  that 
woman  is  more  emotional  than  man  is  to  say  that  she 
has  less  self-control;  that  her  nervous  mechanism  is 
more  highly  organized,  and  that  her  sensibilities  are 
more  highly  developed.  This  enables  us  to  understand 
more  fully  woman's  peculiar  susceptibility  to  the  host 
of  nervous  affections,  chorea,  hysteria  and  neuras- 
thenia, which  she  largely  appropriates  to  herself,  and 
her  great  affectibility,  as  seen  in  religion,  hypnotism 
and  suggestive  therapeutics.  But  for  this,  woman 
would  occupy  a  far  less  conspicuous  place  in  criminal 
records  than  she  even  now  occupies,  for,  whatever  be 
the  character  of  her  wrong-doing,  whether  in  vice  or  in 
crime,  suggestion,  in  some  form,  is  a  potent  factor  in 
its  production.  Under  its  spell  she  often  becomes  like 
one  possessed.  She  has  been  known  to  abandon  her 
luxurious  home  and  become  an  outcast,  or  ruthlessly 
murder  her  helpless  offspring  without  any  apparent 
remorse  until  the  spell  has  subsided.  Illustrations  of 
this  are  not  wanting.     For  instance,   a  woman  in 


i, 


42  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

Switzerland  killed  her  child  in  a  cruel  manner  and  then 
committed  suicide.  As  indicated  by  a  note  left  in  her 
room,  the  deed  was  prompted  by  a  newspaper  article 
in  which  the  details  of  a  like  tragedy  had  been  reported. 
Another  woman  asked  to  be  locked  up  to  prevent  her 
from  committing  a  similar  act,  the  impelling  desire  to 
perpetrate  this  murderous  deed  having  been  created 
through  newspaper  suggestion  likewise.  Then,  too,  she 
frequently  becomes  the  unconscious  instrument  of 
crime  through  personal  suggestion,  as  that  of  a  villain- 
ous husband,  lover  or  friend.  In  an  excited  gathering, 
whatever  its  cause,  whether  it  be  due  to  religious  fervor, 
criminal  violence  or  an  impending  calamity,  woman's 
susceptibility  to  suggestion  still  obtains,  for  she  often 
becomes  an  unconscious  automaton  and  acts  in  accord- 
ance with  the  will  or  feehngs  of  the  crowd.  In  religious 
revivals  women,  especially  young  women,  usually  con- 
stitute the  major  portion  of  converts;  in  hypnotic 
seances  they  make  the  best  subjects,  and  in  hypnotic 
clinics,  for  the  cure  of  disease,  they  are  the  greatest 
beneficiaries. 

There  is  a  widespread,  popular  belief,  shared  by 
many  high  authorities,  that  the  femal  portion  of  the 
prison  population  is  more  criminal  than  the  male  por- 
tion. It  is  claimed,  likewise,  that  girls  in  reformatories 
are  really  more  criminal  than  are  the  boys  in  similar 
institutions.  Part  of  this  is  charged  to  the  reluct- 
ance of  the  public  and  of  the  police  to  prefer  charges 


RELATION   OF    SEX   TO    CONDUCT.  43 

against  girls  and  to  the  leniency  of  the  courts  towards 
young  female  offenders.  Granting  this,  the  tendency 
would  be  to  harden  them  in  crime,  especially  in  com- 
munities where  there  are  no  truant  or  probation 
officers  or  charity  organizations  to  look  after  them. 
This  is  strongly  indicated  by  the  much  larger  per- 
centage of  drunkards  among  females  than  among  male 
inmates  in  juvenile  reformatories  and  other  prisons. 
The  apparent  cruelty  of  some  female  criminals,  and  the 
difficulty  experienced  in  their  reformation,  also  adds 
strength  to  these  theories,  but  much  of  this  is  more 
apparent  than  real. 

In  the  first  place,  that  same  sentiment  in  the  home 
and  community  which  throws  a  greater  degree  of 
sacredness  around  the  small  girl  than  the  small  boy, 
and  lays  special  stress  on  even  the  possibility  of  crimi- 
nality in  a  girl,  gives  rise  to  much  of  the  nominal  differ- 
ence in  the  crimes  of  the  two.  The  same  character  of 
crime,  if  committed  by  a  girl,  is  considered  more  hein- 
ous than  if  committed  by  a  boy.  For  example,  if  a 
brother  and  sister,  or  a  little  vagrant  boy  and  his 
sweetheart,  steal  candy  from  a  confectioner  or  fruit 
from  a  grocer,  more  stress  is  placed  on  the  action  of  the 
female  than  on  that  of  the  male  participant.  This  is 
enhanced  as  the  gravity  of  the  offense  increases.  We 
can  scarcely  imagine  that  a  dehcate,  timid  female  could 
be  guilty  of  an  atrocious  crime,  and  when  one  is  com- 
mitted the  feeling  is  intensified  just  to  the  extent  of  our 


44  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

former  incredulity.  Great  hopes  and  expectations,  if 
not  realized,  give  rise  to  great  disappointments.  As 
the  increased  regard  for  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  the 
female  over  that  of  the  male  member  of  the  family  is 
shown,  just  to  that  degree  will  the  shock  at  her  wrong- 
doing be  greater,  both  to  the  family  and  to  the  com- 
munity. This  is  not  merely  a  vague  sentiment  but  a 
definite  and  well  defined  reaUty. 

Much  stress  is  laid  on  the  premeditation  and  appar- 
ent cruelty  so  frequently  manifested  in  females  who 
commit  homicides  by  the  use  of  poison,  but  there  is 
equally  as  much  premeditation  and  cruelty  shown  in 
males  who  commit  assassination  from  ambush  or  by 
stealth.  Nor  is  the  much  larger  percentage  of  homi- 
cides among  females,  charged  with  offenses  against  the 
person,  evidence  of  their  special  cruelty  or  criminality, 
"for  he  who  attempts  homicide  and  fails  is  just  as 
criminal  as  he  who  attempts  and  succeeds.  The 
failure  or  success  was  not  in  the  intention  or  purpose  of 
the  individual,  but  in  the  conditions,  in  the  means 
employed  and  the  opportunities  and  circumstances 
afforded."  Then,  the  greater  number  of  homicides 
committed  by  woman  on  members  of  her  own  family, 
especially  on  her  own  children,  is  due  rather  to  the 
restrictions  of  her  sphere,  to  the  home  and  to  her 
peculiar  relation  to  her  children  and  the  community. 
The  truth  is  that  woman  has  seldom  ever  committed  a 
crime  that  man  has  not  committed,  or  would  not  com- 


RELATION  OF  SEX  TO  CONDUCT.        45 

mit  under  similar  circumstances;  nor  has  she  ever 
plunged  to  depths  of  crime  that  man  has  not  sounded, 
or  fallen  lower  than  he  has  fallen.  Owing  to  her  pecu- 
liar childlike,  psycho-physical  organization,  both  her 
lighter  and  her  serious  offenses  partake  largely  of  similar 
offenses  committed  by  children.  Like  the  child,  she  is 
governed  more  by  emotion  and  impulse  than  by  reason 
and  judgment,  and  therefore  does  not  realize  the 
enormity  of  her  crime  before  it  is  committed  nor  com- 
prehend the  seriousness  of  her  position  subsequently. 
It  is  this  predominance  of  the  emotions  and  impulses 
in  all  the  criminal  acts  of  the  female  that  renders  her 
reformation  less  hopeful;  or,  to  be  more  exact,  it  is 
rather  the  lack  of  judgment  and  will  than  the  existence 
of  exaggerated  criminality.  She  may  not  be  more 
criminal  than  the  male  offender,  though  her  acts  may 
appear  so,  but  she  is  less  able  to  summon  courage  and 
resolution  to  refrain  from  criminal  ways.  The  peculiar 
constitution  of  her  mind  throws  more  obstacles  in  her 
way  on  the  one  side  and  gives  fewer  resources  on  the 
other.  It  is,  therefore,  these  very  qualities  in  her 
constitution  which  shield  and  protect  her  from  criminal 
tendencies,  and  which  form  her  real  strength  in  normal 
life,  that  constitute  her  greatest  weakness  when  once 
she  has  yielded  to  crime.  She  may  thus  become  ap- 
parently more  cruel  in  crime  and  more  abandoned  in 
vice,  without  being  really  any  more  criminal  at  heart 
than  her  male  prototype.     Her  continuance  in  crime 


k 


46  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

is  not  SO  much  on  account  of  her  love  of  it  as  on  account 
of  her  inability  to  extricate  herself  from  it,  and  because 
she  sees  no  way  out  of  it. 

This  feeling  of  self-abandonment  is  doubly  intensified 
by  the  restrictions  of  public  sentiment,  especially  the 
restrictions  imposed  by  conventional  society  on  female 
offenders.  A  kindred  feeling,  though  somewhat  modi- 
fied, to  that  which  made  the  public  reluctant  to  in- 
criminate a  young  female  offender,  and  which  created 
such  a  shock  at  her  conviction,  now  makes  society 
reluctant  to  take  her  back.  There  may  be  no  doubt 
as  to  her  reformation,  but  fear  of  lowering  the  high 
ideal  of  womanly  purity  forms  an  impassable  barrier 
to  her  return  to  the  position  she  once  occupied.  So- 
ciety may  accept  the  reformed  man  with  open  arms, 
but  shudders  at  the  thought  of  accepting  a  reformed 
woman.  All  may  express  delight  at  any  evidence  of 
her  return  to  an  upright  life,  but  few  will  extend  a 
helping  hand  to  her.  The  compassionate  wife  receives 
back  the  erring  husband  with  fond  embrace,  but  the 
stern  husband  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the  penitential  plead- 
ings of  the  erring  wife.  The  return  of  the  prodigal 
son  is  hailed  with  loud  acclaim,  but  the  poor  erring 
daughter  is  made  a  further  outcast  by  the  stern  rebuffs 
of  parents. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY  TO   CHARACTER. 

Since  the  establishment  of  psychology  upon  a 
sound  physiological  basis  we  no  longer  think  of  the 
mind  as  a  separate  entity,  residing  in  but  independent 
of  the  body.  We  now  understand  the  brain  to  be,  not 
only  the  organ  wherin  the  mind  resides,  but  the  organ 
wherein  mental  energy  is  generated.  It  is  the  great 
central  power-house  of  the  nervous  system,  while  the 
spinal  cord  is  the  transmitting  cable,  the  nerves  the 
sending  and  receiving  wires  and  the  ganglia  or  plexus 
the  sub-stations  or  tiny  brain  distributed  about  the 
body.  The  mind  and  the  body  are,  therefore,  not  only 
intimately  but  inseparably  connected.  We  might 
possibly  conceive  of  a  mental  process,  as  a  mathemati- 
cal calculation,  going  on  in  the  brain  with  but  little 
physical  manifestation  of  such  a  process,  but  we  cannot 
conceive  of  an  emotion  without  conceiving  of  some 
physical  evidence  of  such  a  process.  The  accelerated 
heart  beat  and  blush  seen  on  the  cheek  in  surprise  or 
embarrassment,  the  pallor  and  muscular  contraction 
seen  in  anger  or  fear,  all  point  to  disturbance  in  the 
sympathetic  and  central  nervous  systems  as  surely  as 

47 


48  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

the  needle  points  to  the  pole  or  the  thermometer  points 
to  the  degree  of  temperature.  What  we  call  emotion, 
then,  is  inextricably  bound  up  with  body  metabolism. 
In  other  words,  emotion  is  a  state  of  the  body  as  well  as 
a  state  of  the  mind.  This  is  true,  in  a  measure,  not 
only  of  emotion,  but  of  all  the  attributes  of  the  mind. 
Connected  thought  in  all  its  phases  is  inseparably  as- 
sociated with  body  nutrition.  Every  thought  we  think 
and  every  emotion  we  feel  registers  itself  upon  the 
organism,  while  every  variation  in  nutrition  impresses 
itself  upon  the  mind.  There  is  a  mutual  action  and 
reaction — a  reciprocity  of  influences,  therefore — be- 
tween the  mind  and  the  body.  But  this  relation 
between  mind  and  body  is  no  more  intimate  than  is  the 
relation  between  mind  and  character.  With  healthy 
brain  cells  we  expect  healthy  minds,  and  with  these  and 
healthy  moral  influences  we  expect  well-rounded  moral 
characters.  But  in  the  fierce  struggle  for  existence 
many  have  fallen  short  of  the  highest  possible  physical 
and  intellectual  attainments,  and  as  a  consequence 
society  now  has  a  vast  army  of  dependents  and  defec- 
tives as  a  reward  for  its  flagrant  disregard  of  the  law  of 
eugenics  and  the  potency  of  social  forces  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  highest  possibilities  of  the  race. 

In  these  invalids  and  semi-invalids  of  society  is  found 
nearly  every  gradation  of  mentality  from  the  genius  to 
the  imbecile.  Indeed,  these  mental  aberrations  are 
often  the  most  distinguishing  characteristics  of  this 


RELATION    OF   MIND    AND    BODY   TO    CHARACTER.    49 

unfortunate  class.  Prominent  among  these  aberrations 
are  varying  degrees  of  what  is  popularly  known  as  the 
neurotic  temperament  which,  especially  in  its  most 
aggravated  forms,  appears  to  be  due  to  exceeding 
delicacy  of  structure  and  complexity  of  metabohsm  in 
nerve  cells  resulting  in  instability  in  the  tissue  of  the 
brain  cells  and  lack  of  equiUbrium  in  their  forces.  The 
most  manifest  of  these  disorders  is  the  incapacity  of 
the  cells  to  properly  adjust  their  inherent  function  of 
generating,  discharging  and  inhibiting  cell  energy. 
This  seems  to  be  especially  true  of  those  cells  whose 
function  it  is  to  inhibit,  or  as  it  were,  to  put  the  breaks 
on  outgoing  cell  energy.  In  many  cases  this  condition 
really  amounts  to  an  actual  inhibition  of  the  higher  in- 
tellectual centers,  as  the  very  slightest  sensory  impulse 
will  cause  such  overflow  in  the  motor  centers  that  all 
motor  avenues  are  immediately  thrilled  with  motor 
impulses,  and  the  individual  thereby  reduced  to  a  mere 
automaton.  The  intelligence  of  such  persons  may  be 
and  often  is  of  the  very  highest  order,  and  their  pur- 
poses and  desires  of  the  purest  type,  yet,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  equiUbrium  in  the  brain  forces,  their  lives  are  a 
bundle  of  eccentricities  and  inconsistencies.  Whether 
this  condition  be  due  to  weak  inhibitory  centers  or  to 
over-excitation  of  the  motor  centers,  or  to  both,  at 
times  there  might  as  well  be  no  intelligence,  so  com- 
pletely is  it  submerged  by  these  great  motor  storms 
which  place  him  under  the  control  of  the  automatic 


50  AMERICAN    BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

forces;  his  intelligence  may  struggle  for  the  mastery, 
and  frequently  may  appear  to  have  it  well  in  hand,  but, 
like  Banquo's  ghost  that  would  not  down,  this  instabil- 
ity asserts  itself  and  he  is  again  subject  to  its  behests. 

Many  subjects  of  this  nervous  instability  die  in  early 
infancy,  often  from  convulsions,  or  they  succumb  to 
some  of  the  infantile  diseases  from  which  stronger  child- 
ren readily  recover.  But  all  through  life,  especially 
during  infancy  and  childhood,  this  discordance  in  the 
nerve  forces  is  greatly  exaggerated  by  the  slightest 
physical  disturbance,  such  as  dentition,  attacks  of 
indigestion,  slight  elevation  of  temperature,  or  over- 
study  or  overwork.  Violent  paroxysms  are  not  in- 
frequently ushered  in  by  similar  disturbances.  Such 
children,  particularly  those  that  are  weak  and  anaemic, 
and  those  with  extreme  nervous  susceptibility,  are 
usually  irritable,  easily  worried,  and  suffer  much  from 
periodical  headaches  and  frequent  outbursts  of  anger. 
All  through  life  they  are  a  constant  source  of  annoyance 
and  anxiety  to  their  friends,  for  in  these  paroxysms  of 
madness  they  are  uncontrollable  and  often  commit 
deeds  of  violence  which  they  seriously  regret  later. 
Whatever  they  do  they  do  hastily  and  in  a  state  of  ex- 
citement. Their  likes  and  dislikes  are  very  pro- 
nounced, and  they  either  hate  or  love  with  intensity, 
there  being  for  them  no  neutral  ground;  it  is  either 
praise  or  disparagement  for  all  with  whom  they  come 
in  contact.     Their  excesses,  too,  when  once  begun,  are 


RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY  TO  CHARACTER.  51 

carried  to  the  greatest  extreme,  and  they  are  easily 
affected  by  small  quantities  of  alcoholic  liquors  or  other 
narcotic  poisons,  while  many  of  those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  escape  the  evils  of  strong  drink  fall  victims 
to  some  other  vice,  or,  through  some  special  weakness, 
become  melancholic,  hysterical  or  insane.  In  many 
cases  there  is  a  strange  combination  of  this  highly 
organized  nervous  condition  and  varying  low  degrees 
of  mentality,  with  a  tendency  to  scheme,  cheat,  mis- 
represent, and  in  extreme  cases  to  pilfer  and  steal.  In 
others,  again,  there  is  a  tendency  to  incorrigibility, 
lying,  vagrancy,  or  indecency  may  manifest  itself. 
These  cases  vary  from  those  representing  the  highest 
degree  of  nerve  disturbance,  lowest  mentahty  and 
grossest  immorality  to  those  possessing  but  slight 
nerve  disturbance,  the  highest  intelligence,  and  the 
most  refined  moral  sensibilities.  Many  of  the  latter 
are  the  most  gifted  people  in  their  communities,  pos- 
sessing, not  only  a  high  degree  of  inteUigence,  but  stand 
high  in  business  and  social  Hfe,  and  only  on  extreme 
occasions  display  any  eccentricities.  In  the  great 
majority  of  these  persons  there  are  differing  degrees  of 
egotism,  self -consciousness  and  disinclination  to  yield 
to  the  opinion  of  others,  or  to  acquiesce  in  the  settled 
order  of  things  around  them.  With  many  of  them 
concentrated,  sustained  effort,  either  in  regulating  their 
own  conduct  or  in  the  management  of  their  business,  is 
almost  impossible. 


52  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

Again,  the  chief  difficulty  with  a  large  class  of  persons 
is  simply  the  lack  of  will,  without  the  petulancy  and 
eccentricities  so  frequently  met  with  in  those  persons 
that  are  constantly  annoying  their  friends  by  the  com- 
mission of  rash  acts.  Persons  lacking  will  are  usually 
amiable,  good-natured  and  pleasant,  even  amidst  the 
greatest  misfortunes.  They  seldom  commit  acts  of 
violence,  disagree  with  friends  or  take  exception  to 
conditions  as  they  find  them.  Ordinarily  they  are 
hail-fellow-well-met,  and  especially  suited  to  convivial 
companionship.  Others  may  be  of  indolent  tempera- 
ment and  apparently  indifferent  to  their  own  fate,  or 
to  that  of  the  communtiy  in  which  they  Hve.  Though 
altogether  intelHgent  they  have  little  or  no  volition  of 
their  own.  At  first  their  anti-social  acts  consist  of  the 
lighter  forms  of  dissipation,  but  later  they  drift  into  the 
grossest  immoralities.  The  one  is  led  into  evil  habits 
through  convivial  companionship,  and  the  other 
through  indolence  or  the  subtle  influence  of  associates. 
It  is  difficult  for  either  of  them  to  resist  temptation, 
and  still  more  difficult  for  them  to  refrain  from  evil 
habits  when  they  are  once  formed.  In  all  these  cases 
(of  the  impulsive  and  weak  willed)  there  is  either  a 
quantitative  or  a  qualitative  disproportion  in  the 
minute  constituents  of  the  cells  and  fibers  of  the  central 
nervous  system,  and  a  consequent  lack  of  adjustment 
in  their  forces  and  functions.  These  conditions  are 
powerfully  influenced  by  environment.     Very  slight 


RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY  TO  CHARACTER.  53 

deviations  from  the  normal  may  be  greatly  modified 
in  early  life  by  wholesome  or  greatly  intensified  by 
unwholesome  nutrition.  Much  depends  upon  circum- 
stances, too,  as  to  the  success  or  failure  of  such  persons. 
Under  favorable  influences  they  often  attain  eminence 
and  distinction,  but  are  seldom  able  to  stem  the  tide 
against  adversity. 

Both  cerebral  congestion  and  cerebral  anaemia  are 
responsible  for  much  of  the  juvenile  delinquency  met 
with  in  schools.  The  restless,  irritable  temperament 
of  many  pale,  anaemic  children  is  only  an  outward  ex- 
pression of  the  irritation  going  on  in  the  nerve  cells  and 
fibers  through  impoverished  blood  or  defective  blood 
supply.  Even  the  tendency  to  frequent  outbursts  of 
anger  and  gross  acts  of  insubordination  are  not  infre- 
quently due  to  defective  nutrition,  acting  injuriously 
on  the  nervous  "system.  The  unsteady  hand  and 
twitching  facial  muscles,  seen  in  children  suffering 
from  chorea,  often  yield  more  readily  to  nutritious  diet 
than  to  any  system  of  discipline  that  can  be  instituted. 
In  a  few  instances,  however,  this  affection  appears  to 
be  due  to  an  actual  diseased  condition  of  the  brain  or 
spinal  cord,  but  more  frequently  to  hereditary  ten- 
dencies, enhanced  by  low  nutrition  and  overstudy.  It 
may  even  become  epidemic  and  spread  throughout  a 
large  school.  Hysteria  is  also  comparatively  frequent 
among  school  children,  especially  in  large  cities.  It, 
too,  is  often  due  to  bad  heredity,  lowered  nutrition  and 


54  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

overstudy,  and  in  rare  cases,  especially  in  its  lighter 
forms,  may  also  become  epidemic  among  children.  It 
is  a  much  more  persistent  affection,  however,  and  at- 
tended with  much  graver  anti-social  tendencies  than 
chorea.  In  addition  to  excessive  nervous  agitation, 
such  children  are  subject  to  outbursts  of  anger  and  acts 
of  insubordination,  and  eventually,  through  a  process 
of  a  weakening  of  the  will,  they  often  become  cunning 
and  deceitful,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  resort  to  the 
gravest  misrepresentation,  and  even  to  downright 
untruthfulness. 

Various  pathological  conditions,  such  as  premature 
closure  of  the  cranial  sutures,  pressure  from  depressed 
or  fractured  bones,  tumors  and  excess  of  cerebral  fluids 
and  disordered  membranes,  often  affect  adversely  the 
brain  cells  and  give  rise  to  numerous  mental  and  moral 
disorders  in  children.  Many  of  the  anti-social  nervous 
disorders  of  early  childhood,  some  of  which  continue 
through  Ufe,  are  only  outward  manifestations  of  these 
internal  disturbances.  In  epilepsy,  for  instance,  which 
is  also  frequently  a  manifestation  of  these  disturbances, 
the  paroxysms  represent  only  a  portion,  and  often  only 
a  very  small  portion,  of  the  injury  done  to  the  nervous 
system.  There  is  extreme  irritability  of  temper  in 
many  cases  and  outbursts  of  anger  for  several  hours, 
and  sometimes  for  days,  preceding  the  paroxysms.  The 
child  seems  out  of  humor  with  everything  and  every- 
body about  him,  he  quarrels  with  friends,  tears  his 


RELATION    OF   MIND   AND    BODY   TO    CHARACTER.    55 

clothing,  breaks  furniture  and  beats  inoffensive  domes- 
tic animals.  Instead  of  paroxysms  there  are  sometimes 
periods  of  partial  or  complete  unconsciousness  lasting 
hours,  or  even  days,  during  which  acts  of  violence,  and 
even  theft,  are  committed,  of  which  the  sufferer  has 
afterwards  but  a  slight  recollection,  and  sometimes  is 
unable  to  recall  anything  that  has  transpired.  Another 
manifestation  of  the  same  disorder  is  a  life-long  irrita- 
bility of  temper. 

If  the  disturbance  affects  adversely  the  early  func- 
tional development  of  the  nerve  cells,  especially  those 
cells  whose  function  it  is  to  generate  mental  energy, 
the  early  development  of  the  intellect  will  hkely  be 
disturbed  somewhat  in  proportion.  If  the  potentiality 
of  these  cells  is  weak  and  their  functions  are  carried  on 
sluggishly,  mental  dullness,  stupidity  or  even  imbecil- 
ity may  follow,  the  extent  of  dullness  depending  upon 
the  extent  of  defect  in  the  brain  forces,  and  these, 
largely  upon  the  quantitative  and  qualitative  arrange- 
ment of  the  structures  upon  which  the  forces  depend. 

Such  cases  differ  from  mere  tardiness  of  functional 
development,  in  that  there  is  an  actual  defect  in  the 
metaboHsm  of  the  tissues.  Instead  of  the  uniform 
yielding  of  all  the  cells  to  impressions,  as  under  normal 
conditions,  external  impressions  seem  to  follow  the  few 
paths  of  least  resistance,  leaving  all  others  undeveloped. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  few  brain  tracts  first 
established  serve  as  highways  for  all  the  brain  activities, 


56  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

resulting  in  a  tendency  to  repetition  and  to  the  auto- 
matic, machine-like  movements  of  dullards.  This 
partially  accounts  for  their  continuance  in  crime  when 
it  is  once  begun,  and  especially  for  their  persistence  in 
the  same  kind  of  crime.  Being  unable,  on  account  of 
weak  judgment,  to  settle  strict  questions  of  right  and 
wrong,  they  often  fall  into  evil  paths  at  an  early  age, 
and  then,  owing  to  weak  wills,  they  are  unable,  even 
when  convinced  of  the  wrongfulness  of  their  acts,  to 
change,  until  by  restraint  or  special  treatment  new 
brain  paths  are  opened  up  and  the  old  ones  by  disuse 
grow  more  and  more  indistinct,  until  finally  they  become 
non-existent. 

Next  to  feeble  mentahty  feeble  moral  sensibihties 
are  the  most  distinguishing  characteristics  of  all  these 
children.  It  is  next  to  impossible  for  some  of  them  to 
pass  that  period  of  childhood  in  which  the  destructive 
tendency  predominates.  This  tendency  in  the  early 
life  of  many,  if  not  all  children,  is  a  negative  quaHty, 
due  rather  to  lack  of  development  of  the  reasoning 
faculties  than  to  any  positive  inherent  depravity  or 
tendency  to  avatism,  as  some  would  have  us  believe. 
Like  the  infant,  too,  these  children,  even  when  ad- 
vanced in  years,  manifest  little  feeling  of  commiseration 
for  the  destruction  of  property,  the  suffering  of  dumb 
beasts,  or  even  the  death  of  one  of  their  own  com- 
panions. 

Another  distinctive  period  in  the  development  of  the 


RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY  TO  CHARACTER.  57 

child's  mind,  after  perception  and  memory,  is  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  imagination.  During  this  period  many 
children,  more  from  pure  imagination  than  from  per- 
versity, will  indulge  in  exaggerations  of  truths,  if  not 
in  downright  prevarications.  This  tendency  of  the 
imagination  to  undue  expansion  usally  passes  oJff  in 
normal  children  as  reason  and  judgment  develop,  but 
as  these  faculties  are  always  faulty  in  mentally  feeble 
children,  they  are  apt  to  invent  the  most  unreasonable 
falsehoods  and  tell  them  with  the  greatest  apparent 
sincerity,  even  after  they  have  arrived  at  maturity. 
They  often  confess  to  crimes  in  minute  detail,  upon 
arrest,  when  there  is  no  proof  against  them.  A  feeble- 
minded, hysterical  boy  in  the  Kentucky  Penitentiary 
was  very  careful  to  have  the  warden,  the  chaplain,  and 
the  physician — the  present  writer — ^present  at  a  con- 
fession in  which  he  went  into  great  detail  as  to  how  he 
had  helped  to  murder  a  man  and  woman  in  his  neigh- 
borhood before  coming  to  the  prison  for  a  minor  offense; 
but  upon  inquiry  at  his  home  it  was  learned  that  he 
was  not  near  the  place — not  even  in  the  state  at  the 
time  of  the  tragedy. 

The  habit  of  purloining  small  articles  is  also  over- 
come in  normal  children  as  reason  and  judgment  de- 
velop to  counteract  the  promptings  of  appetite  and 
curiosity;  and  the  inclination  of  children  to  wander 
about  the  streets  is  usually  outgrown  with  years.  But 
with  the  feeble-minded  these  propensities  increase  with 


58  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

years  until  the  victims  become  confirmed  thieves  or 
tramps.  In  the  normal  child  the  repugnance  to  hard 
labor,  often  manifested  in  early  life,  is  also  usually 
overcome  later,  through  the  desire  for  self-preservation; 
but  the  feeble-minded  cannot  understand  the  relation 
between  labor  and  the  preservation  of  life,  and  in  them 
this  repugnance  continues.  The  normal  child  profits 
by  experience.  He  learns  that  a  violent  display  of 
temper  is  unmanly  and  leads  to  endless  trouble;  that 
punishment  for  the  disobedience  will  be  repeated  if  the 
offense  is  persisted  in,  and  that  dissipation  brings 
physical  suffering  and  disgrace.  Consequently  he 
attempts  to  adjust  himself  to  conditions  around  him, 
but  his  weaker  brother,  incapable  of  such  reasoning, 
continues  a  criminal. 

"For  crime  is  wrought  for  want  of  thought, 
As  well  as  want  of  heart." 

In  1 89 1  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington  tried 
to  ascertain,  through  correspondents  and  special  agents, 
the  mental  condition  of  prison  inmates  in  the  United 
States.  Of  27,103  prisoners  reported  the  intelligence 
of  nineteen  per  cent,  was  defective,  of  thirty-three  per 
cent,  fair,  of  thirty-eight  per  cent,  good,  and  of  only 
five  per  cent,  excellent.  Nineteen  per  cent,  of  150,000, 
the  number  of  adult  prisoners  committed  to  our  prisons 
during  the  year  1904,  would  give  us  28,500  defective 


RELATION   OF   MIND   AND    BODY   TO    CHARACTER.    59 

or  feeble-minded  persons  cast  into  prison  annually  in 
this  country. 

During  the  year  1892-93-94,  Dr.  Warner  examined 
100,000  children  in  the  pubUc  schools  of  London,  with 
startling  disclosures  as  to  the  extent  of  physical  and 
mental  defects.  Out  of  the  first  50,000  children  ex- 
amined, 9,941  showed  some  deviation  from  the  normal, 
either  in  defective  development,  or  in  abnormal  nerve 
signs,  or  in  both.  Of  these,  3,435  were  found  to  be 
mentally  dull,  while  only  319  dull  children  were  found 
who  were  free  from  some  physical  defect.  It  was  also 
found  that  the  percentage  of  dullness  rose  from  thirty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  those  with  physical  defects  alone  to 
forty-eight  per  cent,  where  physical  defects  and  ab- 
normal nerve  signs  were  present.  A  significant  dis- 
covery was  that  all  these  defects  increased  with  each 
lower  strata  of  society.  This  was  forcibly  illustrated 
in  the  much  larger  proportion  of  these  defects  found  in 
the  children  in  the  poor  law  schools  than  in  those  of  the 
public  schools  proper,  and  the  still  larger  proportion 
found  among  the  boys  in  industrial  or  reform  schools. 

Again,  many  cases  of  so-called  mental  dullness  in 
school  children  do  not  depend  so  much  upon  brain 
defect  as  upon  eye  strain,  deficient  hearing,  obstruc- 
tions in  the  posterior  portion  of  the  nose  and  mouth, 
and  other  external  defects.  Often  the  child  who  ap- 
pears to  be  dull  will  become  fairly  bright  by  changing 
his  position  in  the  schoolroom  to  one  nearer  the  teacher, 


6o  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

where  he  can  hear  what  is  said.  Many  others  are 
vastly  improved  by  changing  the  window  shade  to 
allow  more  light,  or  by  changing  their  position  in 
relation  to  the  blackboard.  Shortsighted  children 
are  at  a  disadvantage  when  studying  the  diagrams  and 
illustrations  and  are  put  down  as  stupid  when  they  are 
really  only  unable  to  see.  Some  cannot  adjust  their 
angle  of  vision  to  the  position  of  their  books  or  of  the 
desk.  Here,  again,  a  change  of  position  or  suitable 
glasses  will  often  convert  a  so-called  dullard  into  a 
bright  student. 

The  present  Emperor  of  Germany,  William  III,  once 
said  in  a  speech  before  the  German  Parliament  that 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  children  in  the  schools  of 
Germany  were  shortsighted,  and,  although  the  room  in 
which  he  studied  was  well  lighted  and  well  ventilated, 
eighteen  out  of  twenty  in  his  class  wore  glasses.  Re- 
cent investigations  show  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
the  school  children  in  some  of  our  large  cities  suffer 
from  some  physical  or  mental  defect,  disease  of  the  eye, 
ear,  nose  and  throat  ranking  first  among  these  disturb- 
ances. 

In  many  cases  dullness  is  the  outcome  of  exhaustion 
caused  by  overwork,  perhaps  at  home,  especially  at 
night.  This  is  particularly  apparent  in  early  morning 
lessons,  when  the  pupil  should  be  the  brightest.  Ex- 
haustion, too,  is  often  due  to  lack  of  brain  nutrition 
quite  as  much  as  to  lack  of  brain  activity.     This  is 


RELATION   OF   MIND   AND    BODY   TO   CHARACTER.    6 1 

shown  in  anaemics;  or  it  may  be  due,  not  so  much  to 
lack  of  generation  of  intellectual  energy,  or  sluggishness 
of  the  cells,  as  to  lack  of  co-ordination  of  their  forces. 
The  latter  class  of  children  are  often  extremely  nervous 
and  restless.  Many  dull  children  are  under  size, 
especially  girls,  who  usually  have  rounded  shoulders; 
others  are  thin,  pale  and  deUcate,  with  bloodless  lips 
and  sunken  eyes,  but  occasionally  obesity  is  a  promi- 
nent feature.  Very  small  heads  are  more  common 
among  dull  girls  than  among  dull  boys,  and  these  girls 
are  especially  liable  to  be  thin  and  anaemic.  There  is  a 
larger  percentage  of  dull  girls  that  are  delicate  than  of 
dull  boys,  but  a  larger  percentage  of  delicate  boys  than 
of  deHcate  girls  are  dull;  this  varies,  however,  at  dif- 
ferent ages. 

Prominent  among  the  abnormal  nerve  signs  found 
in  such  children  are  bad  balance  of  body,  lack  of  co- 
ordination in  locomotion,  weak  balance  of  head,  over- 
smiUng  or  grinning.  In  many  cases  it  is  observed  that 
when  the  hands  are  held  out  the  wrists  are  drooping, 
the  palms  contracted,  the  fingers  twitching,  and  often 
extended  backwards  from  their  junction  with  the  palm ; 
that  conversation  is  slow,  hesitating,  stammering,  or 
jerky  and  excited. 

All  this  shows  the  close  relation  between  the  mind 
and  body,  particularly  between  the  mind  and  the  cen- 
tral nervous  system,  and  the  dependence  of  a  healthy 
mind,  and  indirectly  a  healthy  moral  character,  upon  a 


k 


62  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

healthy  physical  organism.  This  is  forcibly  illustrated 
in  the  rapid  improvement  of  nearly  all  cases  of  nerve 
signs  with  increased  nutrition,  fresh  air  and  sunshine. 
Education,  also,  aids  materially  in  reducing  the  nerve 
signs  and  nearly  all  cases  of  brain  disorderliness  in 
school  children.  The  broad  gap  between  the  brightest 
and  dullest  individuals  in  any  community  is  not  a  level 
plane,  but  is  made  up  of  varying  degrees  of  intelligence, 
and  whether  that  intelligence  will  approach  nearer  to 
the  one  or  the  other  of  these  extremes  depends  materi- 
ally upon  social  conditions.  In  the  highest  social 
spheres,  where  nutrition  and  sanitation  are  on  the 
highest  planes,  the  tendency  will  be  toward  the  highest 
standard,  and  -pice  versa.  Like  the  moving  of  metallic 
particles  towards  a  magnet,  social  units  in  all  their 
attributes  tend  to  gravitate  towards  the  center  of  at- 
traction. 

Not  the  least  benefit  derived  from  this  uplifting  pro- 
cess in  the  most  enlightened  communities  is  the  sus- 
taining influence  afforded  the  weak  and  unstable 
members  of  society.  Under  such  influence,  too,  injury, 
disease  or  defective  nutrition,  whether  occurring 
in  embryo  or  after  birth,  are  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
Thus,  under  proper  social  conditions,  the  number  of 
unstable  members  of  society  is  not  only  lessened,  but 
the  instabilities  themselves  are  reduced,  while  such 
members  are  greatly  sustained  by  this  powerful  social 
updraft.     While  it  is  our  duty,  therefore,  to  humanely 


RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY  TO  CHARACTER.  63 

care  for  the  defectives  and  dependents  we  now  have, 
according  to  the  most  scientific  methods  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  highest  altruestic  spirit  of  the  times,  it 
is  no  less  incumbent  upon  us  to  courageously  and  ener- 
getically strive,  through  improved  social  conditions  and 
a  wise  application  of  the  laws  of  eugenics,  to  increase  the 
social  efficiency  of  each  social  unit  until  inefficiency  is 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  More  rigid  restrictions  should 
at  once  be  placed  on  the  marriage  of  the  socially  unfit; 
children  should  be  examined  especially  while  in  school, 
at  stated  periods  by  medical  experts,  and  classified, 
treated  and  trained  according  to  their  respective  physi- 
cal and  mental  needs. 

The  best  evidence  we  can  hand  down  to  posterity  of 
our  worthiness  to  have  been  their  progenitors  is 
to  transmit  to  them  strong  bodies,  clear  heads  and 
clean  hearts.  Indeed,  the  chief  end  of  man,  at  least 
so  far  as  this  life  is  concerned,  is  to  see  that  each  suc- 
ceeding generation  is  an  improvement,  physically, 
mentally  and  morally,  upon  the  preceding  one. 


CHAPTER  V. 

COMPARATIVE  INFLUENCE  OF  HEREDITY  AND  ENVIRON- 
MENT ON  CONDUCT. 

Because  plants  and  animals  reproduce  their  kind, 
and  because  certain  somatic  characteristics,  such  as 
high  or  low  stature,  complexion,  color  of  eyes  and  color 
of  hair  have  a  tendency  to  reappear  in  successive  gen- 
erations, it  is  popularly  held  that  moral  traits  should 
also  be  reproduced.  If  a  fellow-traveler  stumbles  over 
the  obstacles  strewn  along  life's  pathway,  and  if  it  is 
learned  that  some  remote  ancestor  was  similarly  un- 
fortunate, the  misstep  is  promptly  charged  to  heredity. 
Indeed,  this  is  such  a  convenient  method  of  disposing  of 
vexed  social  problems  that,  with  many,  it  accounts  suf- 
ficiently for  all  the  frailties  and  foibles  of  the  race.  If 
we  were  dealing  alone  with  hfe  in  its  simpler  forms  this 
method  of  reasoning  might,  in  the  main,  hold  good,  biit 
when  we  attempt  to  make  the  appHcation  to  its  higher 
and  more  complex  forms  such  reasoning  fails  because 
the  analogy  is  lost. 

On  account  of  the  simphcity  of  structure  and  func- 
tion and  the  simple  method  of  reproduction  by  mere 
division  of  the  parent  cell,  there  is  a  striking  similarity 

6s 


66  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

in  all  organisms  of  the  lower  planes  of  life;  but  in  the 
more  highly  developed  types  conditions  are  radically 
different.  Added  complexity  of  structure  and  func- 
tion means  added  complexity  of  organic  evolution  and 
increased  susceptibility  to  external  influences.  There 
is  also  a  difference  in  the  manner  of  descent  in  the  high- 
er and  lower  forms  that  figures  conspicuously  in  the 
problem  of  heredity.  In  the  latter  there  is  less  migra- 
tion, fewer  changes  of  place  and  country  than  occur 
with  the  higher  forms  and  in  consequence  the  line  of 
descent  is  likely  to  be  purer  and  the  maintenance  of 
characteristics  to  be  more  uniform. 

Even  if  these  difficulties  could  be  overcome  and  we 
were  to  attempt  to  trace  our  ancestry  back  only  a  few 
generations,  that  we  might  assign  to  each,  his  or  her 
just  proportion  of  our  virtues  or  vices,  we  should  be 
overwhelmed  by  the  array  of  data  that  would  present 
itself.  In  the  tenth  generation  there  would  be  a  thous- 
and and  in  the  twentieth  a  milHon  or  more  ancestors  to 
reckon  with;  even  then  we  should  hardly  have  gone  be- 
yond the  twelfth  century.  The  more  one  studies  this 
subject  in  the  light  of  these  facts  the  less  importance 
will  he  attach  to  heredity.  He  will  find  that  much  of 
what  is  considered  hereditary  is  in  reality  due  to  trans- 
mitted environment. 

Characteristics  in  children,  resembling  those  of  their 
parents,  presumably  transmitted,  will  often  prove  to  be 
the  result  of  certain  molding  forces  to  which  the  child 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     67 

has  been  daily  subjected.  It  is  the  testimony  of  history 
that  wherever  even  a  heterogeneous  population  has  for 
centuries  been  under  the  same  cHmatic,  economic  and 
social  influences,  certain  physical  and  mental  character- 
istics peculiar  to  these  conditions  have  been  established. 
This  is  the  result,  not  of  heredity,  but  of  formulating 
forces  which  work  without  regard  to  heredity.  The 
Esquimaux  of  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  owing  to 
frigid  chmate  and  a  defective  nutrition,  having  become 
a  race  of  dwarfs,  afford  a  pertinent  illustration  of  this 
inexorable  law  of  hereditary  environment. 

Among  civilized  people  the  Jews  perhaps,  furnish  the 
best  example  of  heredity.  Through  a  strict  observance 
of  a  sanitary  and  moral  code,  as  a  part  of  their  religious 
tenets,  they  have,  for  thousands  of  years,  retained  cer- 
tain distinct  characteristics  of  form  and  feature,  as  well 
as  certain  well-known  traits  of  mind  and  character,  by 
which  they  are  everywhere  recognized.  Yet,  despite 
this  tenacity  with  which  they  have  adhered  to  their 
traditions,  every  nation  of  people  with  whom  they  have 
sojourned  in  their  wanderings  has  stamped  its  impress 
upon  them.  Some  of  their  most  pronounced  physical 
characteristics,  as  well  as  some  of  their  best  known 
traits  of  mind  and  character,  have  been  so  exaggerated 
in  some  localities  and  so  modified  in  others  that  there 
is  often  but  little  resemblance  between  the  Jews  of  these 
different  countries. 

Convincing  evidence  of  the  powerful  influence  of 


68  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

environment  on  large  populations  can  be  found  in  near- 
ly every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The  physical  and 
mental  characteristics  of  the  inhabitants  of  fertile  val- 
leys, arid  plains  and  rugged  mountains,  though  they  be 
the  same  people  and  speak  the  same  language,  will 
doubtless  differ  just  as  widely  as  do  their  surroundings. 

Speaking  in  terms  of  biology,  every  Hving  organism 
is  endowed  at  the  beginning  of  its  existence,  through  the 
parent  cell,  with  two  quantities :  the  fixed  quantity  of 
heredity,  which  stands  for  the  permanency  of  the  race, 
and  the  changeable  quantity,  which  represents  racial 
variations.  Nothing  is  inherited  that  is  not  contained 
in  the  germ  plasm  of  the  parent  cell.  The  fixed,  almost 
immutable  quantity  in  the  personal  entity  of  every  liv- 
ing organism  which  insures  permanency  of  kind  is  in- 
herited, but  the  cells  which  go  to  form  the  body  organ- 
ism are  subject  to  such  changes  as  the  varying  condi- 
tions of  environment  may  impose.  They  are  wholly 
dependent  upon  nutrition  for  their  stability.  The  most 
persistent  of  all  hereditary  tendencies  are  those  that  are 
purely  somatic,  yet  transmitted  tendencies  to  obesity, 
or  to  a  high  or  low  stature  may  be  materially  modified 
by  nutrition. 

The  most  persistent  tendencies  next  in  order  are 
those  of  mentaHty,  while  last  and  least  should  be  placed 
traits  of  character.  The  various  mental  aberrations, 
eccentricities  and  even  grave  defects  of  intellect  and 
will  which  dominate  the  Hfe  of  many  unfortunate  indi- 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     69 

viduals,  and  enter  so  largely  into  the  vagrancy  and 
crime  of  the  country,  are  as  often  due  to  unfavorable 
conditions,  acting  directly  upon  the  child,  either  before 
or  after  birth  as  to  heredity.  Any  disturbance  in  the 
nutrition  of  the  child,  either  in  embryo  or  later  in  its 
development,  sufl&cient  to  give  rise  to  physical  abnor- 
maUties  would  also  Hkely  be  sufficient  to  give  rise  to 
mental  aberrations  and  moral  obliquities.  When  we 
come,  therefore,  to  understand  that  a  well  rounded 
character  depends  largely  upon  a  fully-developed  intel- 
lect, and  this  upon  stable  cerebral  cells  which  are  the 
ultimate  result  of  nutrition,  we.  begin  to  comprehend 
faintly  the  far  reaching  influence  of  nutrition  on  mind 
and  character.  The  significance  of  this  is  made  still 
more  apparent  when  we  understand  that  nutrition,  in 
its  broadest  acceptation,  means  everything  in  the  econ- 
omy of  nature  which  affects  tissue  change.  Hence, 
the  intimate  relation  between  body  and  mind.  What- 
ever higher  spiritual  possibihties  the  mind  may  have, 
it  is  certain  that  the  character  of  its  manifestations  de- 
pends to  a  marked  degree  upon  the  stabihty  of  the  con- 
stituent elements  of  the  brain,  the  organ  with  which  it 
is  most  intimately  associated.  A  healthy,  well-devel- 
oped brain,  usually  means  a  healthy,  vigorous  intellect, 
and  under  normal  social  conditions,  a  well-rounded 
character.  The  claims  of  physiology  and  sanitary 
science  must  therefore,  be  given  due  consideration  in 
every  effort  at  character  building. 


70  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

Very  slight  variation  from  the  normal,  in  intellectual 
endowment,  due  probably  to  some  disturbance  in  the 
important  function  of  nutrition,  may  be  exaggerated 
into  portentous  proportions  by  vicious  sanitary  condi- 
tions, while  very  serious  deviations  may  be  almost  en- 
tirely eradicated  by  wholesome  sanitary  influences. 
This  is  equally  true  of  moral  infirmities.  Many  chil- 
dren who  grow  up  physically,  mentally  and  morally 
unstable  owe  such  infirmities  to  faulty  nutrition,  not  to 
heredity.  Certain  intellectual  or  moral  tendencies  that 
have  been  modified  through  successive  generations  may 
be  transmitted,  but  whether  the  one  or  the  other  shall 
prevail  and  dominate  the  life  of  the  individual  depends 
very  much,  if  not  entirely,  upon  circumstances;  indeed, 
whether  the  greatest  intellectual  and  moral  possibihties 
of  the  child  shall  be  reaHzed  or  not  depends  altogether 
upon  circumstances. 

Numerous  counter-currents,  each  struggUng  for 
supremancy,  may  exist  in  the  same  person  at  the  same 
time.  Under  one  set  of  influences,  perhaps,  one  set  of 
tendencies  may  prevail,  while  under  other  conditions 
tendencies  quite  the  opposite  may  gain  the  ascendency. 
It  is  this  plasticity,  this  receptivity  to  the  influences  of 
the  molding  forces  around  it,  that  makes  the  child  Hke 
wax  in  the  hands  of  the  artist,  which  Httle  by  little  takes 
on  the  ideal  and  assumes  the  shape  and  form  of  the  fig- 
ure desired;  every  impress  of  the  fingers  contributes  to 
this  end.     So  it  is,  Httle  by  Uttle,  that  the  child,  through 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     71 

twenty  years  of  the  most  critical  period  of  Kfe,  grows 
from  a  helpless  mass  of  potentialities,  at  birth  to  man- 
hood or  womanhood,  and  what  that  manhood  or  wom- 
anhood shall  be  is  determined  in  a  great  measure,  if  not 
wholly,  by  the  character  of  the  forces  and  influences 
that  act  and  react  during  the  process  of  evolution. 

This  is  forcibly  shown  in  the  numerous  reported  in- 
stances of  the  kidnapping  or  capturing  of  innocent  chil- 
dren by  roving  bands  of  gypsies  or  savage  tribes  of 
Indians,  and  the  subsequent  conversion  of  these  chil- 
dren into  typical  gypsies  or  Indians.  A  historic  case  is 
that  of  Cynthia  Parker,  a  little  white  girl,  who,  in  the 
early  settlement  of  the  state  of  Texas,  was  captured  by 
the  Comanche  Indians,  and  upon  reaching  young  wom- 
anhood was  made  the  wife  of  the  chief  of  the  tribe. 
After  giving  birth  to  Quanna  Parker,  the  late  noted 
chief  of  the  Comanches,  she  was  recaptured  in  a  fierce 
battle  between  soldiers  and  the  Indians  and '  returned 
to  her  people,  where,  after  repeated  efforts  to  escape 
to  her  tribe,  she  died,  it  is  said,  of  a  broken  heart. 
When  recaptured  she  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight 
and  was  using  a  gun,  apparently,  with  more  skill  and 
bravery  than  any  of  her  savage  companions. 

None  of  the  well-known  and  oft-repeated  stories  of 
romance  and  fiction  afford  a  more  startling  presentation 
of  the  powerful  influence  of  environment  on  mind  and 
character  than  does  the  true  story  of  this  innocent  little 
frontier  girl,  of  respectable  parentage,  who,  by  the  irony 


72  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

of  fate,  was  converted  into  a  veritable  savage,  made  the 
wife  of  one,  and  became  the  mother  of  another  noted 
savage  chief. 

The  tangible  and  intangible  forces,  therefore,  that 
act  and  react  on  mind  and  character  are  countless  and 
incomprehensible.  The  average  person  is  too  apt  to 
regard  the  child  as  a  little  adult.  The  boy  is  often 
treated  as  a  little  man  and  the  girl  as  a  little  woman, 
when  the  truth  is  the  difference  in  size  is  the  least  of  the 
differences  between  a  child  and  an  adult.  The  new- 
born child  is  but  a  man  to  be,  with  all  the  possibilities 
of  individualized  being,  yet  wholly  dormant.  By  rea- 
son of  its  delicacy  and  complexity,  it  is  the  most  helpless 
of  all  living  creatures,  and  for  the  same  reason  is  longer 
in  reaching  maturity.  Twenty  years  of  its  life  are  con- 
sumed in  tissue  change,  in  building  bone,  muscle  and 
nerve;  in  strengthening  organs  and  functions,  and  in 
developing  intellect  and  character.  As  compared  with 
the  adult,  the  bones  of  the  infant  are  softer,  the  mus- 
cular and  nervous  tissues  contain  more  fluids,  the  brain 
is  softer,  contains  more  water,  and  is  much  more  easily 
broken  down;  its  convolutions  are  not  well  defined,  and 
the  difference  between  the  gray  and  the  white  matter  is 
indistinct,  while  the  cells  are  relatively  small  in  size  and 
immature  in  construction,  lacking  in  fibre,  or  having 
imperfect  development,  so  that  impulses  cannot  be 
transmitted.  Everywhere,  there  are  unmistakable 
evidences  of  immaturity.     The  pulse  rate  and  respira- 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     73 

tion  are  different,  the  blood  pressure  is  lower,  secretion 
of  the  glands  is  defective  and  the  proportion  of  the 
elemental  constituents  of  the  gastric  juices  differs  from 
that  in  after  life.  Whatever  intellectual  or  spiritual 
possibilities  the  child  may  have  are  altogether  latent 
at  birth,  and,  compared  with  its  future  capacities, 
surely  nothing  is  so  helpless  as  this  diminutive  bit  of 
humanity. 

No  plant  or  flower  is  more  dependent  upon  nutrition 
and  careful  cultivation  than  is  the  little  human  plant. 
Surely,  no  greater  demonstration  of  the  hidden  pos- 
sibilities of  nature  is  to  be  found  anywhere  than  in  the 
evolution  of  the  dependent  infant  into  the  independent 
adult.  The  process  is  the  result  of  the  intimate  union 
and  co-operation  of  certain  forces,  inherent  within  the 
organism,  with  those  external  forces  with  which  they 
are  brought  in  contact.  While  one's  nature  selects 
from  the  great  storehouse  of  environment  such  material 
as  is  best  suited  for  its  needs,  the  nature  is  moulded  and 
shaped  thereby  and  a  new  creature  formed.  This  is  as 
true  of  the  higher  intellectual  and  spiritual  faculties  as 
it  is  of  the  physical  organism.  Indeed  the  higher  in  the 
scale  of  attributes  we  ascend,  the  more  amenable  to 
environment  do  they  become.  So  true  is  this  that  the 
highest  known  faculties,  the  imitative,  emulative  and 
sympathetic,  are  almost  entirely  void  of  inherent  ten- 
dency in  any  special  direction  and  are  wholly  dependent 
upon  environment  for  whatever  course  they  may  take. 


74  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

These  are  the  chief  social  forces  that  bind  individuals 
into  groups  and  groups  of  individuals  into  a  unified 
social  organism.  They  are  pre-eminently  the  ties  that 
bind  individual  members  of  society  together.  Through 
them  individuality  is  lost  and  society  is  merged  into  a 
complete  whole.  They  are  the  forces  that  make  and 
mould  character.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  one  member  of  a  community  to  consider  an  in- 
dependent course  of  conduct  and  break  away  from  old 
customs  and  traditions.  This  is  why  it  has  been  said 
that  every  community  has  just  the  number  of  criminals 
in  it  that  it  deserves  and  deserves  just  the  number 
that  it  has. 

During  the  most  plastic  period  of  life,  infancy,  child- 
hood and  youth,  each  individual  is  bound  by  a  thousand 
ties  to  his  environment.  The  objects  with  which  he  is 
thrown  in  daily  contact  lay  hold  on  him.  They  pro- 
ject themselves  into  his  very  being,  and  weave  nets  of 
entanglement  on  every  side  until  he  is  utterly  unable  to 
extricate  himself  from  their  grasp.  Like  a  caged  bird 
or  an  anchored  vessel  he  may  appear  to  be  free  but  in 
reality  his  movements  are  confined  to  a  very  limited 
circle,  and  he  is  not  only  bound  to  his  environment, 
but,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  local  affinity,  he  is 
conformed  to  it.  His  plastic  nature  is  fashioned  and 
molded  by  the  social  and  moral  forces  around  him. 
To  attempt  to  resist  them  would  be  like  attempting  to 
resist   atmospheric  pressure.     The   social   and   intel- 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     75 

lectual  standard  of  the  community  becomes  his  stand- 
ard. To  him  the  intellectual  and  moral  atmosphere 
has  limitations  beyond  which  his  aspirations  cannot  go. 
This  is  especially  true  where  the  standard  of  moral 
excellence  is  low  and  the  influences  which  help  to  form 
character  are  constantly  hedging  and  hampering  one's 
inner  nature.  Spontaneity  is  thus  paralyzed,  individu- 
ality is  destroyed,  and  the  fountains  of  the  soul  are 
dried  up.  On  the  other  hand,  where  these  forces 
are  constantly  expanding  and  the  current  is  from  within 
outward,  there  are  but  few  Hmitations  to  individual 
aspirations  or  possibilities.  Latent  hopes  and  ambi- 
tions are  drawn  out  and  new  springs  of  Hfe  are  opened 
up.  Under  the  former  conditions  only  the  strongest, 
only  the  veritable  giants,  can  hope  to  break  through 
the  fetters  of  custom  and  tradition  and  reach  beyond 
the  horizon  of  their  environment,  while  under  the  latter 
conditions  only  the  weakest  need  remain  behind. 

These  facts  explain,  in  a  measure,  why  there  is  such 
a  sameness,  such  a  similarity  of  characteristics,  among 
primitive  and  semi-civilized  people,  and  why  there  is 
such  a  diversity  of  characteristics  in  more  enlightened 
communities.  They  explain,  likewise,  the  dependence 
and  lack  of  initiative  in  the  lower,  and  the  splendid  in- 
dependence and  great  initiative  in  the  higher  social 
planes  of  life.  Taken  in  the  broadest  signification, 
these  facts  also  explain  why  crime  comes  chiefly  from 
the  lower  social  strata;  how  specially  saturated  crime 


76  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

centers  are  formed,  and  why  the  amount  of  crime  in  any 
community  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  degree  of 
criminal  saturation,  either  of  the  whole  or  a  portion  of 
the  social  organism.  There  is  an  important  psycholog- 
ical factor,  therefore,  to  be  taken  into  consideration  in 
deahng  with  crimes  of  individuals  or  groups  of  individ- 
uals. The  mental  and  moral  perception  of  those  occu- 
pying the  lower  planes  of  social  life  are  less  acute  than 
of  those  occupying  the  higher  planes.  By  their  super- 
rior  advantages,  the  latter  are  enabled  to  understand 
the  criminal  nature  of  their  acts,  the  danger  of  detection 
and  the  suffering  and  humihation  that  would  follow 
conviction.  The  less  fortunate,  however,  with  their 
stunted  mental  and  moral  sensibihties  and  their  re- 
stricted and  beclouded  horizon,  are  incapable  of  such 
comprehension.  Actuated  and  moved  by  entirely 
different  natures,  governed  by  different  standards,  and 
possessing  different  capabilities,  the  occupants  of  the 
two  social  spheres  are  not  to  be  judged  by  the  same 
rules.  Regard  for  the  good  opinion  of  society,  which  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  repellant  forces  against  wrong- 
doing in  one  class,  is  almost  wholly  wanting  in  the  other. 
The  high  appreciation  of  individual  rights,  and  the 
regard  for  law  and  order  so  sacred  to  the  one  have  but 
little  weight  with  the  other.  And  finally,  the  purely 
physical  consideration,  the  horror  of  being  confined  in 
dark  cells,  with  scant  bedding  and  coarse  food,  so  repug- 
nant to  the  one,  is  of  little  consequence  to  the  other. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COMPARATIVE  INFLUENCE  OF  HEREDITY  AND  ENVIRON- 
MENT  ON    CONDUCT    (concluded). 

Since  we  have  learned  that  the  comparative  im- 
munity of  some  persons  and  the  pecuHar  susceptibility 
of  others  to  the  influence  of  certain  infectious  diseases 
depends  chiefly  upon  the  difference  in  the  resisting 
power  of  the  body  cells,  the  minute  constituents  of  the 
body  organism,  we  no  longer  think  of  tuberculosis  as 
being  inherited,  in  the  sense  that  the  hving  organism  of 
the  disease  is  transmitted  through  the  germ  plasm  of  the 
parent  cell.  We  now  know  that  it  is  only  the  tendency, 
the  predisposition  through  special  cell  weakness  that  is 
transmitted,  and  that  this  may  be  acquired  as  well  as 
inherited,  and  in  either  case  may  be  largely,  if  not  en- 
tirely, overcome  by  proper  nutrition.  Likewise,  a  child 
may  inherit  from  an  intemperate  parent  weakened 
nerve  tissue,  or  special  neurotic  temperament,  that  will 
render  him  pecuHarly  susceptible  to  the  action  of 
alcoholic  liquors  when  taken  into  the  system;  or  he 
may  inherit  unstable  brain  cells,  which  will  render  him 
specially  liable  to  insanity  if  exposed  to  certain  exciting 
causes,  but  in  neither  case  is  the  disease  inherited. 

77 


78  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

That  which  is  true  physically  and  mentally  is  equally 
true  of  the  moral  characteristics.  Criminality — per 
se — ^is  not  inherited.  A  child  cannot  be  wholly  like 
either  of  his  two  parents,  or  either  of  his  four  grand- 
parents, but  he  may  possess  tendencies  and  character- 
istics of  each,  and  what  these  shall  become  depends 
materially  upon  the  fostering  care  that  is  given  one  and 
the  obstacles  that  are  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  other. 
This  is  the  cheering  message  that  comes  to  the  present 
generation  out  of  the  gloom  and  shadows  of  the  past. 
None  of  these  scourges  of  the  race  are  fixed,  definite 
quantities  in  life's  equation;  all  are  more  or  less  pre- 
ventable, and  all  are  in  a  measure  curable.  Crime  and 
disease  exist  wherever  the  conditions  exist  and  disappear 
whenever  the  conditions  are  removed.  As  a  race  our 
destiny  is  placed  in  our  own  hands;  we  are,  in  truth, 
our  own  and  our  brothers'  keeper. 

Disease,  physical,  mental  and  moral,  being  largely 
the  result  of  weak  resisting  power,  the  chief  aim  of  all 
education  should  be  to  cultivate  and  fortify  this  power 
of  resistance.  Of  the  many  persons  daily  exposed  to 
to  the  germs  of  infectious  diseases,  comparatively  few 
yield  to  their  insidious  attacks.  Family  afflictions, 
business  reverses  or  pubHc  disasters  do  not  affect  the 
minds  of  all  alike.  So,  in  the  domain  of  moral  infirmi- 
ties, some  can  endure  more  strain,  some  less,  the  extent 
of  endurance  depending  upon  individual  power  of 
resistance. 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     79 

For  the  commission  of  a  crime  two  conditions  are  ab- 
solutely necessary-motive  or  desire,  and  opportunity. 
To  satisfy  a  desire  or  gratify  an  appetite  requires  the 
presence  of  other  persons  or  objects.  Even  with  the 
fulfilment  of  these  conditions,  a  third  or  contributory 
cause,  an  approving  conscience,  is  necessary  for  the 
completion  of  a  criminal  act.  However  strong  the  desire 
or  patent  the  opportunity,  the  act  may  be  so  reprehensi- 
ble to  the  conscience,  or  so  repugnant  to  the  intelU- 
gence,  as  to  prevent  its  consummation.  Thus,  the 
higher  elements,  the  conscience,  the  will,  and  the  in- 
tellect are  placed  as  safeguards  against  excesses  of  the 
lower  instincts  and  grosser  propensities,  and  upon  their 
efficiency  or  inefficiency  depends  much  of  the  success  or 
failure  in  life.  Conscience,  however,  does  not  spring, 
Minerva-like,  into  existence,  as  some  are  prone  to 
believe,  but  its  highest  possibiHties  are  reached  only 
through  careful  cultivation  and  training.  For  this 
reason  the  individual  conscience  nearly  always  reflects 
the  social  conscience.  So  true  is  this  that  when  crimes 
are  committed  by  those  moving  in  the  highest  social 
circles  they  are  usually  found  to  be  the  acts  of  those  who 
have  always  been  out  of  harmony  with  that  circle. 
They  are  almost  invariably  deficient  mentally  or  ^  have 
been  unfortunate  in  their  early  training  and  are  not 
susceptible  to  amalgamation  or  assimilation.  By  some 
social  upheaval,  or  some  incident  out  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  events,  they  have  been  thrown  into  a  sphere 


8o  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

to  which  they  do  not  belong.  Social  evolution,  how- 
ever, especially  in  newly  organized  communities,  is 
seldom  symmetrical.  Great  stress  is  often  placed  on 
some  particular  virtues,  while  others,  equally  essential 
to  a  symmetrical  development  of  the  social  organism, 
are  allowed  to  remain  undeveloped.  In  nearly  every 
community,  too,  the  less  resistant  classes  tend  to  gravi- 
tate to  the  lower  social  levels,  where  they  constitute  a 
class  of  their  own,  while  the  still  less  resistant  tend  to 
gravitate  to  some  locaHty  where  they  form  crime 
centers.  In  the  United  States  there  are  numerous 
large  areas  of  so-called  retarded  frontiers  or  social  eddies 
where  crimes,  especially  those  of  violence,  are  more 
frequent  than  elsewhere.  As  crime,  therefore,  is  only 
relative,  and  as  it  consists  of  a  violation  of  some  ar- 
bitrary standard  of  human  rights  which  varies  with 
time  and  place,  it  can  have  no  satisfactory  descriptive 
definition.  Actions  that  would  be  held  as  criminal  in 
one  stage  of  social  evolution  would  not  be  so  held  in 
another.  Neither  sin,  a  violation  of  divine  law,  nor 
vice,  a  violation  of  natural  law,  become  criminal  unless 
prohibited  by  human  law. 

Usually  the  more  enKghtened  the  community  the 
more  numerous  will  be  the  statutory  restrictions  on 
personal  hberty,  and  the  more  viligant  will  be  the  police 
surveillance;  consequently,  there  will  likely  be  more 
minor  infractions  of  the  law  in  highly  cultivated  than 
in  primitive  communities.     For  much  the  same  reason 


INFLUENCE   OF   HEREDITY   AND    ENVIRONMENT.     8 1 

the  proportion  of  major  infractions  of  the  law  is  usually- 
greater  in  rural  communities,  where  police  surveillance 
is  limited,  than  in  communities  where  poHce  regulations 
are  more  rigidly  enforced.  Multiplication  of  statutory 
offenses,  lack  of  employment,  scarcity  of  the  necessities 
of  life,  increased  temptations  and  opportunities,  all 
tend  to  swell  the  volume  of  crime.  So  do  all  those 
conditions  which  go  to  weaken  individual  powers  of 
resistance — conscience,  will  and  intellect. 

The  relation  between  alcoholism  and  vicious  home 
influences,  the  giant  twin  evils,  is  so  intimate  and  so 
interdependent  that  it  is  difficult  to  fix  the  relative 
potency  of  each  in  its  mutual  work  of  social  degra- 
dation. Fifty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  in  the 
United  States,  in  1890,  who  gave  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, admitted  that  they  were  occasional,  and  twenty- 
four  per  cent,  more  that  they  were  common  drunkards. 
More  than  twenty- three  per  cent,  of  the  149,000 
prisoners  committed  to  our  prisons  during  the  year  1904 
were  charged  with  drunkenness.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
parents  of  the  30,000  abandoned  children  in  the  United 
States,  in  1890,  were  intemperate,  and  forty  per  cent, 
of  these  were  drunkards.  The  same  ratio  doubtless 
holds  good  in  1904  in  the  case  of  our  92,000  orphans 
and  dependent  children  and  our  23,000  juvenile  deKn- 
quents.  While  comparatively  few  juvenile  delinquents 
are  themselves  intemperate,  they  are  generally  the 
victims  of  the  destitution  and  demorahzation  wrought 


82  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN    THE    MAKING. 

in  the  home  through  the  drink  habit  of  parents.  On 
the  other  hand,  destitution  and  defective  nutrition 
quite  as  often  lead  to  the  drink  habit. 

Among  unfavorable  environments,  density  of  popu- 
lation is  perhaps  the  most  potent  in  its  influence  for 
evil.  All  statistics  show  that  the  ratio  of  crime  in- 
creases in  any  given  community  largely  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  in  population.  Thus,  a  population  of 
one  thousand  to  the  square  mile  is  more  criminal  in 
proportion  than  a  population  of  one  hundred  to  the 
square  mile;  likewise,  a  population  of  ten  thousand  to 
the  square  mile  is  still  more  criminal  in  proportion  than 
a  population  of  one  thousand,  and  so  on  in  an  increased 
ratio. 

On  account  of  the  growing  competition  and  greater 
struggle  for  existence  in  large  cities,  the  less  vigorous, 
physically  and  mentally,  tend  to  gravitate  to  the  lower 
level  of  society,  where,  by  reason  of  increased  hardships 
and  privations,  vitality  and  mentality,  and  often  moral 
sensibilities,  are  still  further  lowered.  The  inevitable 
result  of  crowding  large  numbers  of  human  beings  of  all 
ages,  of  both  sexes  and  all  degrees  of  criminahty,  into 
small,  unventilated,  unlighted  apartments,  like  packing 
herrings  in  a  box,  must  necessarily  be  bad  in  the 
extreme.  With  every  incentive  to  do  evil  and  none  to 
do  good,  they  are  driven  by  an  almost  irresistible  force 
into  crime. 

An  examination  of  the  school  children  of  London 


INFLUENCE    OF    HEREDITY    AND    ENVIRONMENT.     83 

showed  that  physical  defects  increased  from  seventeen 
per  cent,  in  the  high-grade  pubHc  schools  to  over  twenty 
per  cent,  in  the  Poor  Law  Schools,  and  to  more  than 
twenty-nine  per  cent,  in  the  industrial  schools;  also, 
that  mental  dullness  increased  with  each  lower  strata 
of  society.  Another  British  report  showed  that  the 
boys  in  the  pubHc  schools  were,  on  an  average,  taller 
than  boys  in  the  middle-class  schools;  that  these,  again, 
were  taller  than  those  in  elementary  schools  and  mili- 
tary asylums;  and  finally,  that  these  were  still  taller 
than  the  boys  in  the  industrial  schools.  These  reports 
show  that  industrial  school  boys  of  the  age  of  fourteen 
are  nearly  seven  inches  shorter  in  stature  and  more  than 
twenty-four  pounds  lighter  in  weight  than  juveniles  of 
the  same  age  in  the  general  population.  Unfavorable 
environment,  therefore,  does  not  simply  mean  bad 
example  and  unwholesome  moral  influence,  but  includes 
all  those  conditions  which  act  adversely  upon  the  physi- 
cal and  mental,  as  well  as  upon  the  moral  growth  of  the 
child.  Character,  therefore,  is  not  formed  by  what  one 
sees  and  hears  alone,  but  also  by  what  one  eats  and 
wears.  With  faulty  nutrition  comes  poor  blood  and 
impoverished  and  probably  irritable  brain  cells,  and 
with  these,  unstable  intellect  and  unequally  balanced 
character.  Contaminating  influences  from  without  and 
improper  nutrition  within  doubly  intensify  the  process 
of  deterioration.  In  this  way  physical  weakness  and 
mental  and  moral  obliquities  in  families  may  be  estab- 


84  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

lished  and  perpetuated  through  several  successive 
generations. 

It  is  in  this  way  chiefly  that  juvenile  crime  and  crime 
in  general  keep  pace  with  each  other  and  juvenile 
offenders  of  one  generation  become  the  adult  offenders 
of  the  next.  Not  so  much  through  transmitted  evil 
tendencies  as  through  transmitted  evil  influences;  not 
so  much  through  kinship  as  through  associated  con- 
ditions. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this  truth  is  found  in  the 
familiar  story  of  the  Jukes  of  New  York,  as  narrated 
by  Dugdale  in  his  exhaustive  social  study  of  this  family. 
Out  of  more  than  seven  hundred  persons  Hving  and 
dead,  seventy-six  per  cent,  were  criminals,  twenty  per 
cent,  were  paupers,  and  only  four  per  cent,  were  not  a 
burden  on  society.  Their  criminal  procHvities  seemed 
to  have  been  handed  down  from  parent  to  child  for  at 
least  three  of  four  generations,  but  more  than  one  in- 
stance is  mentioned  where  members  of  this  family 
married  outside  of  their  own  degraded  circle  and  re- 
moved from  its  harmful  influence,  with  the  result  that 
their  children  grew  up  as  did  the  children  of  their 
neighbors,  becoming  industrious  and  respected. 

In  1897,  two  young  brothers,  a  still  younger  sister 
and  a  cousin  were  received  for  burglary  at  the  Ken- 
tucky Penitentiary  from  a  remote  county.  The  cousin 
had  served  three  terms,  the  older  of  the  two  brothers 
had  served  two  and  the  other  had  served  one  previous 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     85 

term  in  that  institution;  and  all,  including  the  girl, 
had  served  numerous  jail  sentences.  Their  fathers  had 
also  served  one  or  more  terms  in  state  prisons  and  some 
of  their  near  relatives  were  known  to  have  been  subjects 
of  charity  in  one  of  the  remote  counties  of  the  state. 
These  four  prisoners  were  described  by  newspaper  cor- 
respondents as  degenerates  of  the  lowest  type  and  held 
up  as  incontestible  proof  of  inherent  depravity  and 
heredity  criminality.  But  a  rather  exhaustive  investi- 
gation instituted  by  the  writer  (prison  physician  at  the 
time)  showed  that  they  were  closely  related  to  one  of 
the  most  prominent  families  in  the  state.  By  the 
merest  accident,  indeed,  on  account  of  the  illness  of  one 
of  three  brothers,  members  of  a  well-known  Virginia 
family,  who,  in  1789,  were  on  their  way  from  Virginia 
to  Kentucky,  the  ancestors  of  these  two  branches  of 
the  same  family  became  separated.  After  his  recovery 
from  a  lingering  illness  the  sick  brother  took  up  his 
permanent  residence  in  a  remote  part  of  the  state, 
where,  because  of  limited  educational  facilities  and 
meagre  opportunities  for  accumulating  property,  some 
of  his  descendants  drifted  into  idleness  and  later  into 
pauperism  and  crime,  while  the  two  brothers  who  set- 
tled in  the  central  portion  of  the  state  purchased  land 
which  proved  valuable,  and  they  and  their  descendants 
became  wealthy  and  influential. 

The  writer  was  acquainted  with  a  beautiful  girl  who 
was  born  in  the  county  jail  less  than  a  year  before  her 


86  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

mother  was  given  a  life  sentence  in  the  state  prison  for 
aiding  in  the  murder  and  mutilation  of  the  wife  of  her 
paramour  (the  illegitimate  father  of  this  girl),  who  was 
himself  executed  as  the  chief  actor  in  this  bloody  trag- 
edy. When  two  years  of  age  the  girl,  both  of  whose 
parents  were  supposed  to  be  dead,  was  adopted  as  an 
orphan  by  a  wealthy  family  and  taken  to  a  large  city, 
where,  amid  the  refining  influences  of  the  home,  the 
church  and  the  school,  she  developed  into  beautiful 
young  womanhood,  and  later  became  a  model  wife  and 
mother.  From  the  mother,  while  a  prisoner  under  the 
writer's  care,  and  from  other  reUable  sources,  he  learned 
she  had  come  from  a  long  line  of  dissolute  and  profligate 
ancestors,  many  of  whom  had  been  in  almshouses  and 
prisons  in  other  states. 

A  very  interesting  and  impressive  illustration  of  the 
influence  of  associated  conditions  is  found  in  the  case  of 
our  foreign-born  population.  Although  the  ratio  of 
crime,  especially  for  minor  offenses,  is  greater  among 
the  foreign  born  than  among  the  native  born,  yet 
wherever  the  conditions  are  favorable  this  disparity 
tends  to  decrease  gradually  with  each  generation  of 
residence  in  this  country  until  it  finally  disappears 
altogether.  Again,  the  large  number  of  rehabilitated 
youthful  offenders  annually  discharged  from  our  re- 
formatories furnishes  even  still  more  convincing  proof 
of  the  powerful  moulding  force  of  surrounding  con- 
ditions.    This  is  the  more  remarkable  in  that  these 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     87 

delinquents  have  not  only  been  the  victims  of  both 
bad  heredity  and  bad  environment,  but  their  evil  ten- 
dencies have  been  permitted  to  develop  until  the  indi- 
^yidual  bent  has  been  established  and  the  criminal  habit 
formed;  yet  complete  rehabilitation  is  the  result  in 
eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  cases,  after  a  thorough 
course  of  physical,  mental  and  moral  training  in  these 
institutions.  Such  startling,  though  incontestable 
facts,  leave  little  foundation  for  the  teachings  of  those 
criminologists  who  claim  that  criminality  is  a  distinct 
characteristic  of  the  individual,  due  largely  to  ativistic 
tendencies  or  to  degeneration,  and  that  this  instinct  is 
usually  distinguished  by  certain  well-recognized  physi- 
cal and  mental  characteristics.  But  with  our  present 
knowledge  of  the  intimate  relation  between  the  impor- 
tant function  of  nutrition  and  developmental  processes 
the  wonder  is  that  in  these  victims  of  social  degra- 
dation, morphological  anomalies,  mental  aberrations 
and  moral  obliquities  are  not  even  more  frequent  than 
they  are.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  mental 
and  moral  perception  correspond  closely  with  the 
degree  of  social  degradation  in  which  these  victims 
have  been  reared. 

In  old  settled  countries,  as  in  some  European  coun- 
tries, where  racial  types  have  been  fairly  well  developed 
and  where  the  inhabitants  of  the  lower  social  strata 
have  been  struggling  for  centuries  against  adverse 
economic  and  social  conditions,  it  is  not  strange  that  a 


88  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

special  class  or  type  from  which  the  majority  of  the 
criminals  of  the  country  come  should  be  developed. 
But  that  this  is  a  compound  of  environment  and  hered- 
ity, probably  more  of  the  former  than  of  the  latter,  is 
strongly  indicated  by  the  rapid  improvement  of  the 
descendents  of  these  classes  when  transplanted  to  new 
and  improved  surroundings,  as  to  a  new  country.  No- 
where, perhaps,  is  there  a  more  striking  illustration  of 
the  powerful  influence  of  environment  than  is  to  be 
found  in  the  comparative  decent  and  lawabiding  in- 
habitants of  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  Tasmania, 
many  of  whom  are  the  descendants  of  slum  convicts. 
Whether  we  consider  juvenile  or  adult  crime,  crimes 
of  individuals  or  groups  of  individuals,  suggestion  in 
some  form  is  an  important  factor  in  its  production. 
Not  unfrequently  a  number  of  specially  cruel  or  mys- 
terious crimes  follow  each  other  in  quick  succession  in 
widely  separated  locaUties  after  one  of  their  kind  has 
been  reported  by  the  newspapers.  An  epidemic  of 
crime  commencing  with  one  of  its  kind  often  sweeps 
over  the  country,  then  subsides  to  be  succeeded  by  one 
of  a  somewhat  different  character.  In  a  crowd,  espe- 
cially— a  so-called  psychological  crowd — the  individual 
will  is  subordinated  to  or  merged  into  the  will  of  the 
crowd,  and  as  a  consequence  the  aggregated  will  often 
acts,  as  in  the  case  of  mobs,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of 
many  in  the  crowd.  Many  active  participants  of  mobs 
and  massacres  often  begin  as  idle  spectators  or  perhaps 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND    ENVIRONMENT.     89 

as  genuine  peace  makers.  During  the  French  Revo- 
lution and  the  Paris  Commune,  many  who  went  out 
to  condemn  the  atrocities  of  the  assassins  were,  through 
the  contagiousness  of  suggestion,  irresistibly  drawn  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fray. 

Authorities  differ  as  to  the  extent  of  criminal  sug- 
gestibility while  in  the  hypnotic  state.  Some  affirm 
that  in  many  cases  at  least  there  is  complete  suggesti- 
bility, while  others  doubt  or  deny  it  altogether  in  non- 
criminal subjects.  But  whether  it  be  hypnotism,  sug- 
gestion or  the  mere  influence  of  strong  minds  over  weak 
wills,  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  there  are  a  large 
class  of  persons  who  are  as  completely  in  the  hands  of 
their  masters  as  wax  is  in  the  hands  of  the  artist.  More 
frequently,  perhaps,  it  is  the  hysterical,  weak-willed  or 
feeble-minded,  but  often  persons  with  strong  minds, 
who  wield  great  influence  over  others,  are  themselves 
completely  under  the  control  of  some  stronger  mind. 
Often  this  yielding  to  the  wills  of  others  is  without  the 
knowledge  of  either  party,  especially  of  the  person  who 
is  influenced.  Good-meaning  wives  frequently  yield 
to  the  suggestions  of  wicked  husbands,  and  become 
their  accomplices  in  crime,  and  not  infrequently  hus- 
bands become  mere  machines  in  the  hands  of  cunning 
and  designing  wives.  But  susceptible  children  are  the 
greatest  sufferers  from  the  criminal  suggestion  and  bad 
example  of  parents  and  older  persons.  One  reason 
given  for  the  decrease  of  crime  after  thirty-five  years 


90  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

of  age  is  that  after  that  age  many  real  criminals  cease 
active  operations  and  become  contrivers  of  crime 
through  younger  persons.  They  gather  about  them 
certain  susceptible  youths,  furnish  them  with  keys  and 
other  necessary  implements,  and  plan  their  operations 
and  share  in  the  profits  of  their  criminal  acts.  In  all 
organized  crime,  there  is  one  dominating  influence,  one 
person,  who  by  his  skill  and  cunning  guides  and  directs 
the  actions  and  movements  of  the  organization.  This 
is  especially  true  in  the  case  of  boys. 

Another  important  psychological  factor  in  every 
criminal  career  that  is  receiving  more  serious  considera- 
tion in  recent  years  is  habit. 

It  is  important  because  it  is  insidious,  and  difficult 
to  explain  because  it  is  intangible.  This  makes  it  the 
more  dangerous  because  it  is  the  more  treacherous,  and 
has  so  many  subterfuges  behind  which  to  hide  its  true 
nature.  There  is  more  in  the  expression,  ''Just  as  a 
twig  is  bent  the  tree's  inclined"  than  the  mere  growing 
of  the  tree  in  conformity  to  the  inclination  of  the  twig. 
There  are  changes  in  the  molecules  of  the  bent  portions 
of  the  wood  that  are  never  readjusted.  The  channels 
of  nutrition  are,  in  a  measure,  changed,  and  the  future 
growth  conforms  to  these  changes.  There  is  also  more 
in  a  fixed  habit  than  the  mere  continuation  of  the  habit. 
There  are  physical  changes  in  the  nerve  fibers  and  cells 
that  are  permanent,  physiological  changes  that  have 
increased  with  each  repetition  of  the  act  until  the  pro- 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND    ENVIRONMENT.     91 

cess  has  become  automatic  and  continues  without  the 
aid  of  the  will.  The  ungovernable  temper,  manifested 
by  frequent  outbursts  of  anger,  has,  through  habit,  a 
positive  physical  basis.  The  discharge  of  motor  force 
by  the  brain  cells,  having  been  uninterrupted  by 
counteracting  inhibitory  forces  from  childhood,  be- 
comes spontaneous.  Activity,  therefore,  increases 
while  inactivity  decreases  any  given  faculty  or  function. 
While  the  strong  is  thus  growing  stronger,  the  weak  is 
growing  weaker.  Both  processes  usually  proceed  at 
an  increased  ratio.  Like  falhng  bodies,  they  gather 
momentum  with  increased  distance.  But  habits  do 
more  than  cause  physical  or  even  physiological  changes; 
they  leave  their  trace  upon  the  mental  and  moral  life  of 
the  individual  as  well.  Habits  are  cumulative.  Each 
thought,  word  or  deed,  gains  strength  by  repetition. 
By  degrees  we  become  less  and  less  conscious  until  we 
finally  act  unconsciously.  Sentinels  and  guards  who 
are  accustomed  to  certain  signals  are  aroused  by  them 
when  much  louder  noise  fails  to  make  any  impression 
upon  them.  The  mother  whose  watchful  care  of  her 
child  never  abates  is  aroused  by  its  slightest  cry,  while 
she  may  be  totally  indifferent  to  much  louder  noise 
near  by.  One  wrong  act  not  only  renders  more  easy 
another  wrong  act  but  it  also  lessens  regard  for  good. 
Habit,  therefore,  is  like  interest  doubly  compounded; 
it  acts  and  reacts  until  it  becomes  not  only  a  part  and 
parcel  of  one's  life,  but  one's  very  existence.     Through 


92  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

habit  the  farmer  thinks  of  his  crops,  his  flocks  and  herds 
by  day  and  dreams  of  them  by  night.  For  the  same 
reason  the  banker  counts  his  money  and  feels  it  on  the 
very  tips  of  his  fingers  while  asleep.  The  habit  of  theft, 
beginning  with  small  articles  of  trifling  value  taken  at 
long  intervals,  may  increase  with  each  repetition  until 
the  habit  becomes  a  part  of  the  very  Hfe  of  the  un- 
fortunate individual.  He  steals,  not  only  for  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  article  stolen,  but  for  the  insidious, 
inexplicable  pleasure  the  very  act  itself  affords. 

It  is  said  that  an  Italian  artist,  in  early  Hfe,  drew  on 
canvas  the  picture  of  a  beautiful  child  who  was  to  him 
an  ideal  of  purity  and  innocence,  and  that  in  old  age, 
while  searching  the  dark  dungeons  of  foreign  lands  for 
a  true  representative  of  all  that  was  wicked  and  crim- 
inal, he  was  horrified,  after  painting  his  subject  as  he 
crouched,  demon-like,  in  his  cell,  to  learn  that  it  was 
his  ideal  of  innocence  and  purity  that  he  had  painted  in 
early  Hfe.  Habits  had  changed,  not  only  his  nature, 
but  his  form  and  features  as  well. 

In  1897  a  life  prisoner  by  the  name  of  Brooks, 
who  had  been  on  parole  for  a  number  of  years  on  con- 
dition that  he  leave  the  state,  appeared  at  the  Kentucky 
Penitentiary  and  asked  for  an  unconditional  pardon, 
or  to  be  given  his  old  cell  in  the  prison.  The  Governor 
refused  to  grant  the  pardon  and,  as  he  had  violated  the 
condition  of  his  parole,  he  was  accordingly  assigned  to 
his  old  ceU  with  great  rejoicing  of  the  prisoner.     Many 


INFLUENCE    OF   HEREDITY   AND   ENVIRONMENT.     93 

instances  have  been  reported  recently  where  life  prison- 
ers, after  long  years  of  confinement,  have  refused  to 
accept  unconditional  pardons. 

'^Even  misery  becomes  a  pleasure  when  long  pro- 
tracted. The  bedridden  sick  enjoy  the  universal 
sympathy  which  a  kind  world  bestows.  The  very 
thought  of  freedom,  of  health,  to  such  becomes  a  source 
of  annoyance.  The  prison  cells,  dark,  dank,  and  dis- 
eased, may,  by  long  association,  become  so  fixed  a 
factor  of  one's  consciousness  that  escape  would  not  be 
courted  were  every  iron  bar  shattered  and  hinges  swung 
wide  to  freedom.'' 

"At  last  they  came  to  set  me  free, 

I  asked  not  why,  and  recked  not  where, 

It  was  at  length  the  same  to  me, 

Fettered  or  fetterless  to  be, 
I  learned  to  love  despair." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   GROWING  RELAXATION  OF  HOME  DICIPLINE. 

Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  the  widespread 
belief  that  the  children  of  today  are  not  so  good  as  were 
the  children  of  a  few  generations  ago  is  evidently  due 
to  such  changes  in  our  industrial  and  social  systems  as 
have  tended  to  weaken  home  ties  and  neutralize  home 
influences,  for  children  are  the  same  everywhere  under 
the  same  circumstances. 

The  introduction  of  machinery  into  all  branches  of 
industry  since  the  beginning  of  our  new  industrial  era, 
whereby  women  have  been  enabled  to  compete  with 
men  and  even  small  children  to  compete  with  both  men 
and  women — at  greatly  reduced  wages — in  many  of  the 
lighter  industries  has  doubtless  contributed  largely  to 
this  unfortunate  condition,  especially  in  important 
industrial  centers.  Children  have  thus  been  drawn 
away  from  home  at  a  tender  age  and  crowded  into 
shops  and  factories,  often  under  the  most  unfavorable 
moral  and  sanitary  conditions.  While  recent  child- 
labor  legislation  has  done  much  to  check  the  employ- 
ment of  children  and  to  improve  the  unfavorable  con- 
ditions of  shops  and  factories,  yet  large  numbers  of 

95 


96  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

children  are  still  regularly  employed  in  the  United 
States  and  the  moral  and  sanitary  condition  of  many 
estabhshments  are,  to  say  the  least,  anything  but 
wholesome.  Little  less  pernicious  in  its  effects  on  the 
home  as  a  character  builder  has  been  the  employment 
of  women,  especially  of  mothers,  in  these  industries. 
Such  homes  are  hardly  more  than  mere  lodging  places, 
and  are  wholly  lacking  in  those  forces  and  influences 
that  mould  and  make  character. 

The  spirit  of  commercialism,  too,  which  has  per- 
meated all  classes  of  society  has  been  a  potent  factor  in 
severing  those  ties  and  weakening  those  influences  that 
count  for  most  in  the  ideal  home.  People  from  all 
stations  of  life,  from  the  city  and  from  the  country,  on 
business  or  pleasure  bent,  daily  crowd  the  railway 
trains,  throng  the  streets  and  press  for  positions  in  the 
centers  of  trade  and  halls  of  pleasure.  Owing  to  im- 
proved facilities  for  travel,  many  men  have  their  homes 
in  the  country  but  engage  in  business  in  the  city,  which 
keeps  them  away  much  of  the  time,  and  even  those 
who  live  in  the  city  are  often  so  closely  confined  at  their 
store,  office  or  shops  that  they  see  little  of  their  children 
except  at  night  and  on  holidays.  The  chief  responsibil- 
ity of  rearing  children  and  diciplining  them,  therefore, 
is  thrown  upon  the  mother,  who,  on  account  of  in- 
creased and  pressing  social  duties,  is  in  turn,  obliged  to 
depend  upon  irresponsible  nurses.  Parents  are  thus 
drawn  away  from  their  children,  while  children  un- 


GROWING   RELAXATION    OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.      97 

consciously  drift  away  from  parental  restraint  and 
parental  influence. 

These  separating  influences  continue  to  expand  as  the 
years  go  by  and  as  the  conditions  which  give  rise  to  them 
continue  to  enlarge.  The  daughter  becomes  less  and 
less  mindful  of  the  mother's  advice,  while  the  son  falls 
by  degrees  into  the  evil  habits  of  his  evil  companions, 
until  suddenly  parents  become  alarmed  at  the  horrify- 
ing spectacle  that  confronts  them.  They  loudly 
declare  that  children  were  not  so  bad  when  they  were 
young,  and  a  few  ill-directed  efforts  at  discipline  follow, 
but  on  account  of  business  pressure  and  social  duties 
these  special  efforts  are  relaxed  and  children  resume 
their  old  habits. 

In  the  United  States  the  most  positive  and  unfavor- 
able changes  of  recent  times  has  doubtless  been  the 
rapid  increase  of  population,  especially  that  of  the 
urban  over  the  rural  population.  Temptations  and 
opportunities  for  evil  doing  become  extensive  every- 
where, noticeably  in  large  towns  and  cities  with  increas- 
ing population.  From  the  very  nature  of  their  sur- 
roundings children  are  attracted  away  from  home  more 
in  urban  than  in  rural  communities.  The  number  of 
children  is  larger  and  there  are  stronger  inducements 
in  close  proximity  to  entice  them,  and,  owing  to  the 
construction  of  houses  and  the  formation  of  streets, 
they  are  often  more  completely  out  of  sight  of  (and 
away  from  the  knowledge  of)  parents,  when  only  a  few 


98  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

rods  away,  than  they  would  be  in  the  country  when  as 
many  miles  distant.  The  opportunity,  therefore,  to 
commit  crime  without  the  knowledge  of  parents,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  enhanced  temptations,  is  as  a  thousand 
to  one  in  the  city  over  the  country.  For  these  reasons 
children  who  would  have  grown  up  into  good  citizens 
in  the  country  have  fallen  victims  to  the  snares  and 
allurements  in  the  city.  Many  a  young  man  who  was 
the  idol  of  his  family  and  the  pride  of  his  community 
in  the  country  has  been  impelled  by  the  almost  irresist- 
ible forces  of  evil  to  frequent  the  haunts  of  evil  and 
crime  in  the  city.  But  aside  from  these  temptations 
which  lure  unsuspecting  youths  into  crime,  there  are 
other  forces  which  help  to  press  them  on  in  that  course. 
Sickness  comes  and  accidents  occur  in  the  city  as  they 
do  not  in  the  country.  So  as  years  go  by,  through 
sickness,  hardships  and  exposure,  the  children  of  the 
poorer  classes  become  less  able  each  succeeding  genera- 
tion to  compete  for  a  livehhood  with  the  well  housed 
and  well  fed,  hence  they  naturally  drift  into  pauperism, 
if  not  into  crime. 

The  once  powerful  influence  of  the  Christian  rehgion 
on  the  home  has  been  greatly  neutrahzed  by  this  ever- 
increasing  business  and  social  pressure.  The  multipli- 
cation of  books  has  distracted  attention  from  the  old 
family  Bible,  once  so  sacred  to  every  home.  Church 
services  appear  to  be  more  formal;  places  of  worship 
appear  not  to  have  the  attractions  for  the  male  portion 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.      99 

of  the  population  they  once  had,  and  as  a  consequence 
boys  now  seek  places  of  amusement,  if  not  dissipation, 
instead  of  attending  church.  The  lack  of  solidarity, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  rivalry  and  contention  between 
the  different  sects,  has  in  the  past  at  least  had  a  greater 
distracting  influence  on  youthful  seekers  after  rehgious 
truth  than  most  communicants  have  been  willing  to 
admit.  But  more  than  all,  the  last  few  decades  have 
been  a  transition  period — a  period  of  great  spiritual 
unrest.  The  controversy  among  the  higher  critics  as 
to  special  creation,  evolution,  a  personal  and  impersonal 
deity,  determinism  and  free  will,  has  tended  rather  to 
becloud  and  mystify  than  to  clear  the  religious  at- 
mosphere. Many  were  unable  to  adjust  their  religious 
faith  to  the  doctrines  of  evolution. 

Orthodox  mothers  clung  tenaciously  to  the  old 
theology  and  trained  their  children,  so  far  as  they  were 
trained  religiously  at  all,  according  to  the  old  traditions. 
At  school,  especially  at  college,  these  children  soon 
found  that  this  teaching  was  at  variance  with  the 
modern  idea  of  evolution,  and  for  a  time,  at  least, 
doubts  and  misgivings  arose.  But,  happily,  much  of  this 
has  past  into  history.  Denominational  rivalry,  too, 
has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum,  little  is  now  said  of  the 
once  supposed  conflict  between  reHgion  and  science, 
between  Genesis  and  geology  and  the  rehgious  out- 
look for  the  home  is  now  much  brighter.  But  other 
distracting   conditions   have   arisen   during   the   last 


lOO  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

few  decades  which  have  made  this  a  pecuHarly  trying 
period  on  the  home.  This  has  been  a  transition  period 
from  government  by  physical  force  to  government 
by  moral  force.  During  this  interval  much  confu- 
sion has  arisen  as  to  what  constitutes  true  discipUne. 
The  pendulum  of  pubKc  opinion  has  swung  back  and 
forth  until  many  good-meaning  parents  have  no  well- 
defined  opinions  on  the  subject.  Many  understand 
that  corporal  punishment  is  neither  polite  or  popu- 
lar, yet  they  have  not  learned  the  secret  of  the  more 
refined,  subtle  process  of  getting  behind  the  conscious 
life  of  the  child  and  guiding  and  directing  from  within. 
This  chaotic  condition  has  had  a  decidedly  disquiet- 
ing, not  to  say  demorahzing  effect,  both  on  the  home 
and  the  child. 

The  timely  appearance  of  the  public  schools  along 
with  these  social  and  industrial  changes  and  confusion 
of  religious  thought,  has  been  in  the  nature  of  a  God- 
send. Teachers  especially  skilled  in  training  children 
in  the  ways  of  truth  and  virtue  have  been  provided  at 
public  expense  to  relieve  parents  of  much  of  their 
responsibihties.  But  even  here  a  great  lesson  is  to  be 
gained  by  the  parents  of  the  future  from  the  experience 
and  failure  of  the  parents  of  the  past.  The  chief  difl&- 
culty  appears  to  be  the  result  of  the  dual  oversight 
imposed  upon  parents  and  teachers  by  our  system  of 
public  schools.  \Parents  are  prone  to  leave  too  much  to 
the  teacher.     Dual  oversight  is  always  more  or  less 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME    DISCIPLINE.    lOl 

unsatisfactory  even  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stance, as  in  the  case  of  private  tutors.  It  is  difficult 
for  parents  and  teachers  to  understand  each  other,  and 
for  each  to  appreciate  the  respective  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities of  the  other.  In  the  pubUc  schools  this  diffi- 
culty is  intensified.  In  the  case  of  the  private  tutor  or 
even  the  private  school,  where  either  the  parents  em- 
ploy their  own  teacher  or  select  their  own  school,  they 
are  likely  to  know  something  of  the  progress  of  their 
children,  but  in  the  public  schools  even  this  oversight 
is  more  or  less  withdrawn.  Parents  are  apt  to  think 
that  as  the  state  builds  the  schoolhouses,  employs  and 
pays  the  teachers,  it  ought  also  to  assume  all  respon- 
sibilities and  give  all  needed  moral  instruction.  They 
not  infrequently  blame  the  teacher  for  certain  manifes- 
tations of  rudeness  and  certain  evidence  of  disregard  for 
parental  advice  on  the  part  of  their  children.  Wholly 
unconscious  that  it  is  chiefly  their  fault,  by  degrees 
they  further  relax,  if  they  do  not  entirely  rehnquish  all 
parental  authority.  This  is  particularly  noticeable  in 
large  cities  where  the  majority  of  the  parents  know 
practically  nothing  of  the  progress  their  children  are 
making,  where  they  are  or  with  whom  they  associate 
between  school  hours  or  on  their  way  to  or  from  school. 
That  this  tendency  to  abandon  children  to  the  state  is 
due  to  one  universal  cause  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
all  give  the  same  explanation  and  share  the  same  uni- 
versal indifference.     It  is  an  exemplification  of  the 


I02  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

universal  weakness  of  human  nature  manifested  in  a 
disposition  to  shirk  from  responsibiHties,  just  in  pro- 
portions as  we  are  reheved  of  them  by  others  and  is 
doubtless  to  be  attributed  largely  to  an  evolution  of 
sentiment  growing  out  of  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
state  to  share  with  parents  the  responsibihty  of  properly 
educating  their  children.  As  this  spirit  of  indifference 
increases  each  year  and  is  intensified  with  each  suc- 
ceeding generation,  it  has  imposed  upon  parents  and 
teachers  of  to-day,  extra  responsibiHties,  the  full  pur- 
port and  meaning  of  which  they  can  scarcely  realize. 
Teachers  must  assume,  to  a  great  extent,  these  respon- 
sibiHties; they  must  learn  that  morals  cannot  be  taught 
en  masse;  they  must  learn  that  children  must  be 
studied  individually  as  well  as  collectively  and  treated 
according  to  their  respective  capacities  and  suscepti- 
biHties.  Yet  the  great  burden  of  these  special  respon- 
sibiHties should  and  must  inevitably  fall  upon  parents. 
Fathers  must  learn  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  length 
of  time  they  spend  with  their  children  as  the  use  they 
make  of  the  time  so  employed.  They  should  at  least 
take  the  same  interest  in  their  children  while  with 
them  as  they  do  with  their  business  during  the  hours 
employed  in  its  pursuits.  But  unfortunately  they  work 
at  their  business  during  the  day  and  think  of  it  at  night. 
A  balance  sheet  of  the  day's  receipts  and  disbursements 
is  carefully  kept,  but  the  gain  or  loss  in  the  manHness 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.    103 

and  in  the  moral  sensibilities  of  their  children  is  not 
even  noticed. 

The  father  who  is  in  charge  of  the  training  of  his 
children  for  the  great  battle  of  hfe  should  not  only  know 
what  they  are  doing  and  how  they  are  progressing  each 
day,  but  he  should  also  know  the  dangers  to  which  they 
are  constantly  exposed.  He  may  depend  much  upon 
the  kindergarten  and  much  upon  the  school,  but  he 
cannot  abandon  them  to  either.  He  must  have  a  place 
in  their  hearts  that  cannot  be  filled  by  others.  To  be 
able  properly  to  administer  to  their  wants,  he  must 
know  their  needs,  their  hopes  and  their  fears,  their 
strength  and  their  weakness. 

If  moral  force  is  to  be  substituted  for  physical  force, 
in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  the  greatest  of  all 
social  changes,  it  must  be  brought  into  direct  contact 
with  the  forces  with  which  it  is  expected  to  operate. 
To  repress  a  wayward  tendency,  strengthen  a  weakness, 
or  develop  a  virtue,  the  acting  forces  and  the  forces  to 
be  acted  upon  must  be  brought  in  apposition  with  each 
other.  If  this  relation  could  be  properly  maintained 
between  parents  and  children  there  would  be  no  more 
necessity  for  corporal  punishment.  There  is  much 
truth,  therefore,  in  the  rather  harsh  statement,  that, 
"He  who  is  unable  to  govern  without  the  rod  is  unfit 
to  govern  with  it."  With  parents  who  have  the  con- 
stant oversight  of  their  children  this  is  held  to  be  abso- 


I04  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

lutely  true,  and  with  teachers  and  caretakers  who  are 
called  upon  to  correct  many  of  the  faults  of  parents 
there  are  but  few  exceptions.  Even  these  errors  may, 
with  the  proper  exercise  of  patience  and  skill,  be  cor- 
rected indirectly  by  strengthening  weaknesses  and 
developing  virtues,  or  at  most  by  repressive  measures 
without  force.  To  deprive  a  disobedient  child  of  privi- 
leges enjoyed  by  others,  to  take  from  his  recreation  the 
time  spent  in  idleness,  and  to  force  him  to  pay  for 
damages  or  losses  caused  by  his  neglect  or  maliciousness 
are  usually  more  effective  means  than  force.  The  frank 
confession  on  the  part  of  the  most  earnest  advocates 
of  direct  punishment  that  there  are  those  who  can  and 
do  govern  successfully  by  rational  methods  without 
force,  throws  the  weight  of  the  responsibility  upon 
those  parents  and  teachers  who  fail  to  thus  govern. 
It  is  an  admission  that  the  failure  is  not  so  much  due 
to  the  badness  of  children  as  to  the  weakness  of  those 
having  them  in  charge.  In  the  case  of  parents  it  is  an 
admission  that  they  have  not  been  sufficiently  disci- 
plined in  the  school  of  self  denial,  patience  and  firmness, 
that  they  have  not  learned  the  full  value  of  good 
example  in  word  and  deed  and  the  great  danger  of 
allowing  even  the  most  trivial  fault  in  the  early  life  of 
the  child  to  go  uncorrected. 

The  element  of  feeling  in  one's  own  mind  while 
administering  bodily  punishment  is  sufficient  to  con- 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.    105 

demn  it  in  the  strongest  terms.  The  very  act  gives 
rise  to  emotions  diametrically  antagonistic  to  tender- 
ness. Certain  psycho-physical  changes  take  place  which 
aid  in  suppressing  tenderness  and  in  increasing  harsh- 
ness. The  flow  of  blood  is  increased;  inhibition  of  the 
motor  nerve  centers  is  relaxed  and  all  the  motor  activi- 
ties given  free  play.  If  one  could  examine  his  own 
inner  conscience  at  the  time  he  would  find  slight  con- 
sideration given  to  "tempering  justice  with  mercy." 
There  is  little  commingHng  of  the  two  thoughts  at  the 
time.  If,  however,  it  is  found  that  '*  sparing  the  rod  is 
spoihng  the  child"  there  should  be  no  question  as  to 
the  course  to  pursue.  But  this  does  not  argue  that 
the  same  results  could  not  have  been  accomplished, 
even  more  effectively,  by  vigilance,  kindness  and  firm- 
ness, without  force.  These  measures,  however,  are  not 
to  be  alternated  and  applied  each  in  its  turn  by  days  or 
weeks  but  always  in  conjunction  with  each  other.  Nor 
should  kindness  be  allowed  to  lapse  into  indulgence 
any  more  than  firmness  should  be  permitted  to  grow 
into  harshness. 

For  a  child  to  hesitate  to  comply  with  a  parental 
request,  to  ask  the  reason  for  or  doubt  the  wisdom  of 
such  a  request  or  the  right  of  the  parent  to  make  and 
enforce  it  is  rather  an  indication  of  a  lack  of  disciplinary 
power  on  the  part  of  the  parent  than  to  inherent 
obstinacy  on  the  part  of  the  child.    There  may  be  bad 


I 


lo6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN    THE    MAKING. 

tendencies,  even  in  very  young  children,  but  where 
these  tendencies  are  allowed  to  develop  into  bad  habits 
it  is  usually  more  the  fault  of  the  parent  than  of  the 
child. 

Indiscriminate  punishment  was  the  bane  of  the  old 
system.  Children  were  often  severely  punished  for 
some  childish  indiscretion,  for  some  innocent  diversion, 
while  rude  and  perhaps  vicious  tendencies,  which 
should  have  been  checked,  even  if  the  severest  punish- 
ment was  necessary,  were  allowed  to  grow  into  perni- 
cious habits.  This  is  the  crucial  point,  the  final  test  of 
the  competency  of  home  discipline.  The  unquestioned, 
supreme  authority  of  parents,  wisely  exercised,  brings 
only  profound  respect  and  even  reverence  from  children. 
Under  such  discipline  parents  are  unconsciously  idolized 
and  joyfully  obeyed.  At  the  approach  of  maturity, 
when  companionship,  mutual  trust  and  confidence 
should  characterize  the  relation  of  parent  and  child, 
parental  restraint  should  be  relaxed  rather  than  in- 
creased. Any  attempt  at  co-ercion  at  this  age  is  likely 
to  be  bitterly  resented.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of 
parents  to  teach  patience,  perseverence  and  self  control 
as  it  is  to  teach  honesty  and  virtue.  Indeed,  few 
qualities  stand  for  more  in  the  life  of  the  child  and  the 
man  than  absolute  self  control. 

The  mariner  has  learned  by  many  sad  experiences 
of  shipwreck  and  privation  the  great  danger  of  even 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.    107 

the  slightest  deviation  in  the  compass,  and  we  are 
learning  by  equally  sad  experience  the  danger  of  the 
slightest  uncorrected  deviation  from  the  right  in  the 
early  life  of  the  child.  The  maxims,  "As  the  twig  is 
bent,  the  tree  is  inclined,"  and  "Train  up  a  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it,'*  are  being  more  fully  appreciated  each  day. 

When  the  home  comes  to  be  regarded  as  a  nursery 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  rarest  of  plants  and  flowers, 
and  the  same  care  is  taken  in  building  character  and 
developing  virtue  as  is  taken  in  developing  delicacy  of 
shade  and  fragrance  of  flower,  there  will  be  no  place  for 
corporal  punishment  in  the  code  of  the  disciplinarian 
There  is  a  real  psycho-physical  basis  for  the  claims  of 
moralists  that  no  word,  no  deed,  no  act — in  short,  no 
circumstance  in  the  home — ^is  without  its  influence  on 
the  future  life  of  the  child.  For  parents,  therefore,  to 
attempt  to  escape  their  individual  responsibilities  is 
like  one's  attempt  to  flee  from  his  own  shadow.  It  is 
not  so  much  the  rigid  discipline  or  fervid  expostulations 
and  labored  sermonizing  that  counts  as  it  is  the  daily 
and  hourly  practice  of  those  virtues  they  would  have 
their  children  imitate.  As  the  imitative,  emulative 
faculties  of  the  child  are  more  plastic  and  more  sus- 
ceptible to  early  impressions  than  the  intellectual  and 
reasoning  faculties,  example  is  worth  far  more  than  pre- 
cept.   If  vicious  habits  are  practiced  in  the  home,  and  if 


lo8  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

honest  dealing,  veracity,  and  sincerity  are  regarded 
lightly,  children  will  likely  reflect  these  characteristics 
in  their  after  lives.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  moral 
atmosphere  of  the  home  is  pure,  if  the  higher  virtues 
are  practiced  and  the  finer  graces  are  cultivated,  the 
children  of  such  a  home  will  be  almost  proof  against 
vicious  outside  influences. 

Therefore,  though  intangible  and  undefinable,  the 
true  home  spirit  which  cements  family  ties  and  fixes 
ineffaceable  impressions  for  good  on  the  impressionable 
minds  of  the  young  is  as  essential  to  the  moral  life  of 
the  child  as  the  air  he  breathes  is  to  his  physical  well 
being.  Traditions  of  the  past,  ancestral  pride,  rever- 
ence for  parents,  family  reunions,  wedding  and  birthday 
anniversaries  are  some  of  the  outward  manifestations 
of  this  home  spirit.  The  question  with  the  real  pro- 
gressive physician  of  to-day  is  not  so  much  what  will 
cure  as  what  will  prevent  disease.  So  it  is  with  the 
management  of  children,  the  question  is  not  so  much 
how  to  correct  as  how  to  prevent  evil  tendencies.  The 
true  province  of  the  home  is  not  so  much  to  restrain 
from  evil  as  it  is  to  build  character  in  spite  of  evil  ten- 
dencies and  evil  surroundings. 

*^  We  attain  a  moral  attitude  as  we  build  a  structure. 
We  lay  stone  on  stone  around  the  rising  frame- work  to 
fashion  the  image  of  the  mind.  So  we  must  pile 
thought  on  thought,  cement  resolution  to  resolution. 


GROWING   RELAXATION   OF   HOME   DISCIPLINE.    109 

till  the  will's  attitude  is  fixed,  and  our  characters 
approach  completion." 

^'Home  is  not  mere  four  square  walls, 

Though  with  pictures  hung  and  guilded. 
Home  is  where  affection  calls. 

Filled  with  shrines  the  heart  hath  builded." 

"Home  is  not  merely  roof  and  room, 
It  needs  something  to  endear  it; 
Home  is  where  the  heart  can  bloom. 

Where  there  is  some  kind  word  to  cheer  it." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CAN  OUR  SCHOOLS  SAVE   OUR  BOYS? 

The  pioneers  of  popular  education  devoutly  believed 
that  knowledge  would  prove  a  sovereign  remedy  for 
crime.  The  maxim  of  Victor  Hugo,  ^^He  who  opens  a 
school  closes  a  prison/'  was  accepted  as  a  self-evident 
truth.  Universal  education,  it  was  claimed,  would 
usher  in  an  era  of  universal  uprightness  as  surely  as 
effect  follows  cause.  Yet  today  we  are  confronted  by 
the  anomalous  condition  of  an  apparent,  if  not  an 
actual,  increase  of  juvenile  and  adult  crime,  together 
with  an  enormous  increase  of  both  popular  and  univer- 
sity education.  "Many  schools  have  been  opened  but 
no  prisons  have  been  closed."  The  painful  experience 
of  the  past  few  decades  has  shown  that  there  is  in  reality 
little  in  the  elementary  studies  alone  to  remove  criminal 
tendencies  and  that  even  a  higher  education  avails  but 
nominally  amidst  vicious  and  contaminating  influences. 
The  proverb,  "To  know  the  right  is  to  do  the  right" 
does  not  possess  the  potency  it  once  possessed.  We  are 
beginning  to  learn  that  there  is  no  special  magic  in 
mathematics  or  gramm^to  ward  off  vice. 

Of  nearly  150,000  prisoners  committed  to  the  prisons 


112  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

of  the  United  States  during  the  year  1904,  more  than 
eighty- three  per  cent,  could  read  and  write;  of  the 
whites,  eighty-seven  per  cent,  and  of  the  native  whites 
ninety- two  per  cent.  Out  of  nearly  12,000  juvenile 
delinquents  committed  to  our  reformatory  and  in- 
dustrial institutions  during  the  same  period,  eighty-five 
per  cent,  of  the  boys  and  eighty-nine  per  cent,  of  the 
girls  could  read  and  write.  Of  the  82,000  prisoners  in 
the  United  States  in  1890  more  than  2,500  were  said  to 
have  been  well  educated;  of  these,  1,100  claimed  to 
have  a  collegiate  or  university  education,  nearly  one 
hundred  a  scientific,  sixty-three  a  medical,  eighteen  a 
legal  and  six  a  theological.  But  a  careful  investigation 
among  many  thousand  prisoners  shows  that  the  intel- 
lectual crank,  the  educated  imbecile,  and  those  who 
can  scarcely  read  and  write,  comprise  the  vast  majority 
of  the  so-called  educated  criminals.  By  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, usually  economic  and  social,  the  less 
prosperous  classes  in  nearly  every  community,  especi- 
ally in  densely-populated  towns  and  cities,  tend  to 
gravitate  to  the  lower  social  levels,  where  the  less  pros- 
perous and  most  vicious  of  these  form  centres  of  pauper- 
ism and  crime  for  the  community.  Prisoners  who  come 
from  this  class,  as  the  vast  majority  of  them  do,  and 
who  claim  to  have  been  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
usually  admit  that  their  attendance  was  of  short  dura- 
tion and  at  irregular  intervals.  They  generally  attend 
school  long  enough  to  contaminate  others  with  their 


CAN   OUR    SCHOOLS    SAVE    OUR    BOYS?  1 13 

vicious  habits  but  not  long  enough  to  be  benefitted 
morally  themselves.  The  child  from  the  stately 
mansion  and  the  child  from  the  humble  cottage  may 
occupy  the  same  seat  and  recite  in  the  same  class  with 
mutual  benefit,  but  in  order  to  rescue  the  children  of 
the  vicious  classes  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  reach 
their  homes. 

While  compulsory  education,  truant  and  special  day 
and  night  schools  are  relieving  the  public  schools  of 
much  of  the  odium  of  a  superficially  educated  criminal 
class,  many  grave  responsibilities  which  properly  belong 
to  the  home  are  still  persistently  shifted  on  to  the  pubhc 
schools.  No  special  class  has  a  monopoly  on  American 
bad  boys.  They  flourish  like  green  bay  trees  wherever 
the  conditions  are  favorable,  whether  it  be  in  the  palace 
of  the  rich  or  the  hovel  of  the  poor.  They  are  the 
products  of  conditions  rather  than  of  places.  But  for 
their  respectable  clothing,  one  would  suspect  from  their 
language  and  conduct  that  many  of  the  boys  he  sees  on 
their  way  to  and  from  school  were  brought  up  in  the 
slums.  Evidently  their  home  influences  have  not  been 
what  one  would  expect  from  their  dress,  or  they  have 
been  adepts  in  adopting  the  ways  of  their  evil  com- 
panions. While  it  is  one  of  the  foibles  of  youth,  as 
well  as  of  adults,  to  imitate  the  bad  rather  than  the 
good,  yet,  judged  from  their  conduct,  many  of  these 
children  must  have  absorbed  whole  chunks  of  wicked- 
ness from  their  hoodlum  associates  in  an  incredibly 


114  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN    THE    MAKING. 

short  time.  But  the  truth  is,  when  traced  to  its  ulti- 
mate source,  much  of  this  naughtiness  is  found  to  be 
due  to  loose  discipHne  in  respectable  homes.  Many 
parents  are  so  deeply  engrossed  in  business  or  pleasure 
that  they  have  scant  time  to  devote  to  their  children. 
They  know  httle  of  their  associates  or  habits  while  on 
their  way  to  and  from  school.  Many  of  them  not  only 
entrust  their  children  to  the  school  but  actually  abandon 
them  to  it.  Then  there  are  the  children  of  the  wealthier 
classes,  not  the  over  rich,  who  do  not  patronize  the 
public  schools,  but  those  whose  incomes  are  sufficient 
to  enable  them  to  rear  their  children  in  luxury  and  idle- 
ness, and  who  often  teach  them  to  believe  that  they 
belong  to  a  class  by  themselves.  Many  of  these  child- 
ren are  arrogant,  some  even  defy  the  rules  of  the  school, 
and  nearly  all  seek  to  obtain  their  education  along  the 
lines  of  least  resistance.  By  allowing  them  to  yield  to 
every  whim  from  childhood,  they  become  wholly  in- 
capacitated for  serious  study  and  often  drift  into  idle 
and  vicious  habits  early  in  life.  Having  had  their 
every  want  gratified  by  over  indulgent  parents,  they 
have  never  learned  the  important  connection  between 
individual  exertion  and  gratified  desire,  as  have  those 
children  who  have  been  thus  impressed  through  the 
constant  struggle  for  existence. 

For  teachers  to  transform  these  children — the  street 
gamin,  the  undisciplined  and  the  over  indulged — into 
typical  American  citizens,  without  the  co-operation  or 


CAN   OUR    SCHOOLS   SAVE    OUR    BOYS?  11$ 

even  the  sympathy  of  parents  with  whom  they  are 
associated  three-fourths  of  the  time  during  the  school 
year,  would  be  almost  as  miraculous  as  the  transmuta- 
tion of  the  baser  metals  into  the  finest  gold,  and  yet 
this  is  what  is  expected  of  the  pubhc  schools. 

One  serious  difficulty,  however,  properly  chargeable 
to  the  school,  has  been  the  failure  of  teachers,  until 
within  the  last  few  decades,  to  take  proper  cognizance 
of  the  great  difference  in  the  physical,  mental  and 
moral  capabilities  of  children  entrusted  to  their  care, 
and  the  tendency  to  bring  all  under  the  same  rigid 
rules  without  regard  to  the  innumerable  variations 
from  the  normal  in  the  moral  sensibilities  and  intel- 
lectual capabilities  of  their  pupils.  By  this  method  the 
boy  with  merely  an  irritable  temper,  or  the  one  with 
slightly  stunted  moral  sensibilities,  failing  to  conform 
at  once  to  the  rigid  rules  intended  for  model  boys,  or 
the  boy  with  sHghtly  obtuse  intellectual  acumen, 
not  reaching  the  standard  of  excellence  fixed  for  the 
brightest,  was  either  expelled,  or  by  rebuffs  and  dis- 
couragements, was  driven  from  school,  which,  owing 
to  lack  of  proper  home  influences  was,  in  many  respects, 
equivalent  to  forcing  him  into  vagrancy,  if  not  into 
pauperism  and  crime.  Once  deprived  of  these  restrain- 
ing and  uplifting  influences  which  should  characterize 
every  home  and  every  school,  the  road  is  usually  short 
to  the  almshouse  or  the  prison. 

Criminal  statistics  everywhere  show  that  a  large  per 


Il6  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

cent,  of  the  inmates  of  jails  and  penitentiaries  and  many 
victims  of  the  gallows  come  from  boys  who  leave  their 
homes  because  of  unsympathetic  parents  who  were 
totally  ignorant  of  their  greatest  needs,  as  were  their 
teachers  who  forced  them  frohi  school  by  lack  of  ap- 
preciation. 

Fortunately,  however,  it  is  now  coming  to  be  re- 
cognized that  morals  that  will  grow  and  ripen  into 
Christian  citizenship  cannot  be  imparted,  even  to 
normal  children,  en  masse,  at  least  not  didactically  and 
in  the  abstract,  as  heretofore  attempted;  and  further- 
more, as  every  child  differs  in  form  and  feature,  he  like- 
wise differs  in  mental  and  moral  susceptibihties  from 
every  other  child.  Therefore,  in  order  to  secure  the 
best  possible  results,  a  rational  classification  must  be 
made  and  each  treated  according  to  his  capacities  and 
susceptibilities.  To  the  progressive  teacher  of  today  it 
appears  passing  strange  that  such  an  important  truth 
should  have  so  long  escaped  recognition.  The  child 
units  may  not  be  complete,  only  in  process  of  com- 
pletion; they  may  not  be  independent  in  their  influence 
one  upon  another,  nevertheless,  they  are  separate  and 
distinct  child  units.  There  may  be  a  striking  similar- 
ity between  them,  both  physically  and  mentally,  yet 
each  represents,  at  least  a  separate  and  distinct  physical 
and  psychical  process.  To  be  able,  therefore,  to 
develop  the  best  and  repress  the  worst  of  these  in- 


CAN   OUR    SCHOOLS    SAVE    OUR    BOYS?  117 

dividual    characteristics,    they    must   be    dealt    with 
according  to  their  varying  needs. 

The  difficulty  has  been  still  further  complicated  by 
an  over-crowded  and  over  specialized  curriculum.  A 
layman  actually  becomes  bewildered  when  he  thinks 
of  a  child  of  twelve  years  of  age  having  to  master  a 
dozen,  and  the  child  of  sixteen  having  to  master  sixteen 
different  studies.  This  process  of  enriching  and 
embellishing  the  course  of  study  has  gone  on  until  it 
includes  nearly  every  fad  and  fancy  of  authors  and 
theorists.  Such  extension  and  attenuation  necessarily 
leads  to  superficiality  and  indefiniteness,  by  diverting 
attention  and  preventing  concentration.  The  weightier 
questions  of  moral  excellence  have  thus  been  subor- 
dinated to  these  superfluous  embellishments  until,  lik^ 
the  storm  tossed  vessel  that  has  not  time  to  cast  anchor, 
children  are  not  given  time  to  take  their  moral  bearings. 

"Accomplishments  have  taken  virtue's  place, 
And  wisdom  fails  before  exterior  grace; 
We  slight  the  precious  kernel  of  the  stone, 
And  toil  to  polish  its  rough  exterior  alone." 

** Knowledge  is  power,"  but  it  is  not  all  powerful. 
The  emotions  and  the  will  must  be  trained  as  well  as 
the  intellect;  not  incidentally  and  secondarily,  but 
primarily,  and  as  the  chief  factor  in  the  education  of 
the  child.  It  is  argued  that  this  is  encroaching  upon 
religion  and  that  religion  cannot  be  taught  in  the  public 


L 


Il8  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

schools  without  inculcating  sectarianism  into  the  minds 
of  the  pupils.  This  is  unfortunately  confounding 
morality  with  rehgion.  To  teach  mathematics  one 
should  know  more  than  is  contained  in  any  single  text 
book  on  the  subject,  and  to  teach  civics  he  should  know 
more  than  is  taught  by  any  political  party.  He  should 
be  conversant  with  text  books,  parties  and  creeds,  and 
if  he  choose,  have  his  preferences,  but  his  knowledge 
should  not  end  here.  A  teacher  thus  equipped  can 
teach  moral  excellence  and  civic  righteousness  in  the 
public  schools  without  encroaching  upon  the  peculiar 
beliefs  of  any  party  or  creed.  It  is  not  necessary  for 
him  to  teach  theological  dogmas,  meta-physical  ab- 
stractions or  ancient  asceticism  in  order  to  awaken  the 
conscience  to  right  thinking  and  right  living.  It  is  the 
province  of  the  intellect  to  apprehend  and  discriminate; 
of  the  emotions  to  suggest  and  solicit,  but  it  is  for  the 
will,  the  great  arbiter  of  this  trinity  of  powers,  to  set  in 
motion  the  souPs  desires.  It  is  this  trinity  of  the  mind, 
this  interdependence  of  its  parts  that  constitutes  the 
strength  of  character  when  all  are  conjoined  in  its 
production.  Since  the  feelings  cannot  compel,  but 
can  only  impel  to  right  actions,  save  through  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  will,  the  so-called  ^*  autocrat  of  the  soul," 
it  is  of  vital  importance  that  the  will  be  trained  to 
respond  readily  to  the  correct  solicitations  of  the 
emotions.  Both  potential  and  kinetic  moral  energy, 
therefore,  are  important  factors  in  character  building. 


CAN   OUR   SCHOOLS   SAVE   OUR   BOYS?  119 

*' Character  is  both  principle  and  product,  cause  and 
effect/' 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  each  voluntary  repetition 
of  a  moral  act  increases,  not  only  the  capacity,  but  also 
the  tendency  to  continue  the  performance  of  such  act 
until  it  ultimately  becomes  a  fixed  habit,  which,  in  its 
broadest  acceptation,  is  more  than  second  nature;  it  is 
even  more  than  part  and  parcel  of  one's  self,  it  is  one's 
very  existence.  This  is  as  true  in  intellectual  and  moral 
activities  as  it  is  in  those  physical,  and  furnishes  the 
strongest  argument  for  sending  the  "whole  boy  to 
school."  It  is  the  basis  upon  which  the  argument  in 
favor  of  the  three  H's,  Head,  Heart  and  Hand,  in 
education  is  made.  As  a  boy  feels,  thinks  and  acts,  so 
will  he  be  incHned  to  feel,  think  and  act,  until  each 
becomes  automatic. 

We  are  too  prone  to  think  of  children,  and  children 
are  too  prone  to  think  of  themselves,  as  preparing  for 
activities  in  some  vague,  distant  future,  "where  con- 
ditions are  entirely  different."  The  truth  is,  they  are 
preparing  for  the  now,  which  is  the  most  effective 
preparation  for  the  future.  They  must  learn  by  acting 
as  well  as  by  thinking.  The  greatest  epoch-making 
advance  in  discipHne  was  the  substitution  of  self- 
activity  and  individual  initiative,  for  coercion,  re- 
pression and  domination.  Discipline,  through  re- 
straint alone,  tends  to  fetter  personality  and  enfeeble 
and  dissipate  the  will. 


I20  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

The  success  attending  the  School  City,  organized  as 
%  part  of  the  discipUne  in  the  schools  of  many  of  our  large 
cities,  and  the  Junior  Republics,  recently  organized  in 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  has  thrown  a  flood 
of  light  on  the  wonderful  self-governing  capacity  of 
children.  This  lies  in  the  trend  of  the  mind,  the  mental 
attitude,  the  power  of  purpose,  and  the  ready  response 
of  the  will  to  the  inner  promptings.  With  the  mental 
attitude  once  fixed  towards  a  certain*  goal  and  the 
power  of  purpose  once  formed  the  teacher  only  has  to 
guide  and  direct. 

Much  of  the  civil  government  taught  in  the  schools 
should  relate  to  the  duty  of  children  towards  their 
parents  as  the  heads  of  the  family  government ;  towards 
the  teacher  as  the  representative  authority  in  the 
school;  they  should  be  taught  their  obligation  to  the 
local  and  general  government  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  property,  and  their  responsibilities  as  individuals 
and  citizens.  Government,  therefore,  should  be  taught 
practically  as  well  as  historically  and  theoretically. 
Like  morals  and  manners,  it  should  be  acted  rather 
than  recited. 

The  highest  ideal  for  the  boy  is  not  to  hold  office,  to 
be  Governor  or  President,  but  to  be  a  good  citizen.  To 
this  end  every  child  should  be  trained  with  the  same 
painstaking  care  that  a  crown  prince  is  trained  for  his 
kingly  responsibiHties.  This  is  of  especial  importance 
in  a  country  like  ours  with  a  large,  heterogeneous  popu- 


CAN   OUR    SCHOOLS   SAVE    OUR   BOYS?  I2i 

lation,  holding  different  traditions  and  speaking  differ- 
ent languages,  many  of  whom  are  wholly  ignorant  of 
our  history  and  the  genius  of  our  institutions.  If  we 
would  mold  the  children  of  such  heterogeneous  and 
incongruous  elements  into  responsive  American  citizens, 
patriotism,  in  its  larger  and  broader  acceptation,  must 
be  inculcated  in  early  life.  The  vital  necessity  of  this 
becomes  even  more  obvious  when  we  see  the  propa- 
gandists of  all  the  anti-socialisms  of  the  Old  World 
finding  refuge  in  our  country,  where  they  think  they 
can  with  impunity  carry  on  their  unholy  warfare 
against  all  forms  of  organized  government. 

Formerly,  when  speaking  of  patriots,  one  instinctively 
thought  of  great,  historic  characters,  sword  in  hand, 
fighting  for  and  ready  to  die  for  their  country;  but  now 
one  thinks  of  his  industrious,  upright  neighbors,  in- 
telHgently,  conscientiously  and  uncomplainingly  per- 
forming their  duty  in  every  department  of  life;  voting, 
paying  taxes,  serving  on  juries,  working  the  public 
highways,  scrupulously  obeying  and  earnestly  aiding 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws.  These  are  the  patriots 
and  heroes  demanded  by  the  twentieth  century  de- 
mocracy, and  it  is  these  that  the  public  schools,  if  they 
fulfill  their  mission,  must  produce.  A  full  realization 
of  this  personal  relation  of  each  individual  to  the 
government  is  of  supreme  importance  in  a  democracy 
where  the  government  is  of,  by  and  for  the  people; 
where  the  character  of  each  individual  forms  the  warp 


122  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

and  woof  of  the  character  of  the  nation,  and  where  the 
individual  is  to  the  nation  what  the  link  is  to  the  chain. 
A  few  centuries  ago,  when  one's  position  in  life  was 
fixed  at  birth,  when  he  was  expected  to  follow  his 
father's  trade  and  conform  to  the  traditions  of  his  race 
in  all  public  affairs,  spontaneity  and  individuahty  were 
of  little  consequence;  but  now  since  each  individual 
is  expected  to  make  his  own  way  in  life,  these  qualities 
are  of  vital  importance.  It  is  of  equal  importance, 
however,  that  this  energy  be  not  exaggerated  and  the 
rights  of  the  community  encroached  upon;  there 
should  be  such  regulation  that  the  rights  of  the  in- 
dividual and  the  rights  of  the  community  would  be 
blended  and  harmonized.  This  is  the  highest  social 
efficiency,  and  it  is  for  this  the  pubHc  schools  are  es- 
tabhshed  and  maintained.  This  is  why  it  has  been 
said  that  education  is  the  chief  business  of  the  American 
people;  this  is  why  the  pubHc  schools  are  as  sacred  to 
their  hearts  as  is  democracy  itself.  No  better  evidence 
of  the  devotion  of  the  American  people  to  popular  edu- 
cation is  needed  than  that  of  the  nine  hundred  miUion 
dollars  invested  in  school  property  and  the  four  hun- 
dred million  dollars  annually  expended  in  the  United 
States  for  the  maintenance  of  pubhc  schools.  But  if 
our  schools  would  place  more  emphasis  on  the  import- 
ance of  subordinating  individual  rights  for  community 
rights  we  would  not  hear  so  much  of  the  spurious  cry 


CAN   OUR   SCHOOLS    SAVE    OUR   BOYS?  123 

for  personal  liberty  in  the  time  of  great  moral  crisis 
which  our  country  is  constantly  undergoing. 

With  approximately  seventeen  milHon  American 
children  in  the  care  of  half  a  million  consecrated  pa- 
triotic teachers,  we  feel  assured  in  our  hearts  that  our 
republic  is  safe  from  foreign  foes,  but  when  we  realize 
that  every  state  in  the  Union  still  has  its  prisons  and 
reformatories  and  that  these  are  so  filled  with  the 
youth  of  the  land,  that  many  states  are  building  more 
of  these  institutions,  we  can  reaHze  as  in  no  other  way 
that  our  greatest  danger  is  not  from  our  external  but 
^  from  our  internal  enemies — ourselves. 
4f  The  chief  responsibihty  for  this  increase  of  crime, 
/accompanying  an  increase  of  popular  education  and 
/  advancing  civiHzation,  should,  perhaps,  fall  upon  the 
home,  but  the  trend  of  social  evolution  has  been  such 
as  to  throw  much  of  it,  whether  just  or  not,  upon  the 
school.  The  school  has,  by  degrees,  encroached  upon 
the  prerogatives  of  the  home  until  it  must,  whether 
wilUngly  or  not,  either  assume  some  of  the  responsibili- 
ties of  the  home  or  help  in  the  crusade  for  better  ones. 
Indeed,  the  greatest  educational  problem  the 
twentieth  century  has  been  called  upon  to  solve  is  how 
best  to  secure  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  the  home, 
the  school  and  the  community,  in  the  interest  of  the 
twentieth  century  child.  To  this  end  the  school  must 
inevitably  become  more  and  more  a  social  factor  until 
its  benign  influence  is  felt  in  every  home  however 


124  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

humble  or  squalid  it  may  be.  Under  the  law  the  child 
of  this  generation  does  not  belong  exclusively  to  the 
home  nor  to  the  school  nor  yet  to  the  community,  but 
to  the  state,  which  stands  sponsor  for  its  education  and 
training  for  citizenship. 

Since  nearly  eighty  per  cent,  of  our  teachers  are 
women,  much  has  been  said  about  feminizing  our 
schools,  but  the  most  trustworthy  investigation  ap- 
pears to  indicate  that  it  is  not  so  much  a  question  of 
sex  as  of  personality.  Indeed,  since  it  is  known  that 
children  assume  a  somewhat  different  attitude  toward 
the  world  at  each  of  the  different  periods  of  develop- 
ment— infancy,  childhood  and  adolescence — it  is  prob- 
able that  future  research  will  reveal  the  fact  that  at  one 
of  these  periods  children  may  respond  more  readily  to 
the  influence  of  one  sex  and  at  another  period  to  the 
other.  Even  now  there  appears  to  be  little  disposition 
to  question  the  superior  influence  for  good,  of  women, 
over  children  in  their  earUer  years,  and  probably  over 
girls  at  all  ages,  but  as  example  is  worth  more  than  pre- 
cept, it  is  believed  adolescent  boys  can  best  form  their 
ideals  of  great  men  by  having  living  examples  after 
which  to  pattern.  At  this  age  boys  have  a  passionate 
liking  for  the  heroic,  whether  in  books  or  in  real  Hfe, 
and  often  they  are  actually  spellbound  in  the  presence 
of  great  personaHties. 

While  teachers  have  made  wonderful  progress  during 
the  last  few  decades,  having  kept  pace  with,  if  not 


CAN   OUR   SCHOOLS   SAVE   OUR   BOYS?  125 

abreast  of,  the  marvelous  achievements  made  in  the 
arts  and  sciences  during  this  period,  yet  their  responsi- 
bilities have  increased  far  in  excess  of  the  advance 
made.  The  teacher  has  advanced  a  hundredfold  and 
his  responsibilities  have  increased  a  thousandfold. 
This  is  not  peculiar,  however,  to  teaching,  but  is  one  of 
the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  law  of  progression. 
Every  advance  is  encompassed  with  numerous  demands 
and  responsibilities,  each  being  greeted  with  applause 
in  which  is  mingled  multiplied  demands  for  further 
advancement. 

The  glory  of  the  medical  profession  is  not  in  relieving 
aches  and  pains,  nor  in  building  colleges  for  instruction 
and  hospitals  for  the  care  and  treatment  of  the  sick, 
but  in  the  efforts  to  discover  the  cause  and  prevent  the 
many  ills  that  befall  the  human  family.  Nor  is  the 
glory  of  the  public  school  system  in  its  magnificent 
buildings,  its  enormous  expenditure  of  money,  nor  even 
in  the  great  learning  of  its  splendid  corps  of  teachers, 
but  in  the  character  of  citizens  it  produces — men  who 
are  faithful  to  every  civic  trust  and  duty;  men  who 
can  afford  to  be  honest  in  poHtics  and  business,  just  to 
their  neighbors  and  loyal  to  their  country. 

The  final  solution  of  this  vital,  this  all-absorbing 
question,  is  to  be  found  in  the  new  teacher,  insofar  as 
the  new  teacher  himself  or  herself  has  been  found.  The 
most  distinctive  characteristic  about  this  new  teacher 
is  not  his  great  learning,  though  perhaps  this  is  of  more 


126  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

importance  than  at  any  other  time  in  the  history  of 
popular  education,  but  in  that  mysterious  something 
called  personality,  which  enables  him  to  work  his  way 
into  the  hearts  of  his  pupils,  to  get  behind  the  main- 
springs of  conscious  Hfe  and  there  set  vibrating  certain 
forces  which  impel  to  right  thinking  and  right  acting. 
"Though  he  neither  speaks  nor  commands,  there  is 
everywhere  a  conscious  recognition  of  his  authority. 
His  very  presence  in  the  schoolroom  is  a  benediction. 
He  illumines  and  strengthens  all  with  whom  he  is  as- 
sociated.'' 

Beneath  the  maze  and  myth  of  hypnotism  and  sug- 
gestive therapeutics  there  is  a  grain  of  truth,  which, 
though  perhaps  not  larger  than  the  traditional  mustard 
seed,  plays  an  important  part  in  all  character  building. 
This  is  faith;  faith  in  one's  self,  faith  in  humanity.  In 
suggestive  therapeutics  this  faith  comes  through  re- 
peated suggestions  from  the  operator,  and  in  the  school 
from  the  teacher.  In  either  case  it  is  most  effective, 
when  repeated,  again  and  again,  with  almost  the  force 
of  a  command,  until  it  is  burned  into  the  very  soul  of 
the  individual.  There  is  a  wresthng  of  mind  with 
mind,  and  heart  with  heart  until  the  subject,  be  he 
patient  or  pupil,  becomes  an  unconscious  beHever  and 
actor. 

A  complement  to,  or  rather  a  component  part  of,  this 
faith,  is  the  power  of  concentration,  of  attention,  of 
purpose;  the  power  of  transmuting  faith  into  works, 


CAN   OUR   SCHOOLS    SAVE    OUR   BOYS?  127 

thoughts  into  deeds.  This  psychological  rebirth,  this 
spiritual  rejuvenation,  has  been  the  inspiration  of  men 
and  nations  in  the  hour  of  their  greatest  triumph 
throughout  the  ages. 

It  is  not  so  much  the  mission  of  the  teacher  to  drill 
and  coerce  as  it  is  to  stir  the  soul  to  seek  the  truth,  and 
thirst  for  knowledge;  to  fan  the  little  spark  of  faith  and 
hope  that  flits  and  flickers  in  every  human  soul,  into  a 
consuming  fire;  not  so  much  to  impart  information  as 
to  plant  in  the  soul  the  seeds  of  knowledge  and  truth 
that  will  grow  and  bloom  and  ripen  into  splendid  Chris- 
tian citizenship.  Every  true  teacher,  therefore,  is  a 
mental  healer,  a  true  magician  in  the  school  room. 
She  waves  the  magic  wand  and  stirs  the  brain  and 
thrills  the  heart  to  do  or  die. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  time  in  which  we 
are  Hving  is  only  a  transition  period  from  the  gross 
darkness  of  ilHteracy  into  the  approaching  Hght  of 
universal  education;  only  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness; only  the  early  dawn,  the  forecast  of  what  we  have 
a  right  to  expect,  from  what  we  have  already  received. 
It  is,  in  truth,  only  the  first  stroke  of  the  sculptor's 
chisel,  the  first  touch  of  the  artist's  pencil,  and  it  de- 
volves upon  the  teachers  of  the  present  and  the  future 
to  develop  character,  and  bring  out  the  true  beauties 
of  the  individual  and  the  race. 

As  is  the  soul,  so  is  the  teacher;  as  is  the  teacher,  so 
is  the  school;  as  is  the  school,  so  is  the  nation. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  OUR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Few  conditions  have  contributed  more  to  the  short- 
comings of  American  youths  than  the  lack  of  systematic 
physical  training  in  the  home  and  school.  This  great 
truth  becomes  more  apparent  as  we  gain  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  threefold  nature  of  man,  and  the  inti- 
mate relation  between  a  healthy  physical  organism,  a 
well  balanced  intellect,  and  a  well  rounded  moral  char- 
acter. We  have  foolishly  believed  that  in  going  to  and 
from  school,  and  in  their  games  and  plays  on  the  school 
ground,  our  children  obtain  all  needed  exercise.  We 
have  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  is  not  exercise  alone, 
but  scientific  physical  training,  the  co-ordination  and 
correlation  of  all  their  physical  and  psychical  forces  that 
our  children  need.  This  is  as  important  to  the  un- 
gainly, stoop-shouldered  boy  in  the  country  school  as 
to  the  pale  visaged,  narrow-chested  boy  in  the  city 
school;  as  important  to  the  over-developed  boy  as  to 
the  undeveloped  boy,  who  is  all  intellect  and  no  muscle. 

In  a  speech  before  the  German  Parliament  the  pre- 
sent Emperor  (WiUiam  HI.)  startled  the  people  by  the 

emphatic  declaration  that  the  school  children  of  the 

129 


I30  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS  ^ IN   THE   MAKING. 

country  were  deteriorating  physically,  and  as  a  proof 
stated  that  eighteen  out  of  twenty  of  his  classmates 
were  forced  to  wear  glasses  on  account  of  defective 
vision. 

With  one  accord  we,  Pharisee-like,  congratulated 
ourselves  that  the  children  in  New  America  were  not 
like  those  in  decadent  Europe;  but  none  too  soon  we 
discovered  our  mistake,  for  upon  examination,  practi- 
cally the  same  deplorable  conditions  were  found  in  our 
own  country.  Carefully  prepared  statistics  showed 
that  fully  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  our  school  children 
were  suffering  from  some  physical  or  mental  defect, 
these  defects  being  especially  in  evidence  in  large  cities. 

Prior  to  this  the  manual  training  and  physical  culture 
taught  in  our  schools  and  colleges  were  chiefly  for  utili- 
tarian, aesthetic,  and  educational  purposes,  with  little 
regard  for  the  body  itself.  Indeed,  much  of  the 
early  gymnastic  training  was  for  spectacular  effect,  or 
for  excellence  in  some  sport  or  acrobatic  feat  rather 
than  for  its  effect  upon  the  individual.  For  lack  of 
properly  trained  instructors,  too,  much  harm  was  often 
done  by  over-straining  the  heart,  arteries,  and  certain 
groups  of  muscles  of  sturdy  and  normal  students,  who 
simply  lacked  harmonious  development  and  co-ordina- 
tion of  movement,  but  incalculably  harmful  were  the 
effects  upon  those  below  the  standards  of  health,  and 
many  were  permanently  injured  by  excesses  of  various 
kinds. 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  131 

For  a  striking  illustration  of  this  we  have  but  to  turn 
to  the  stunted,  overworked  children  born  in  extreme 
poverty.  By  immoderate  use  in  early  life  the  epiphysis 
of  bones  may  become  prematurely  developed,  their 
length  shortened,  and  the  size  of  the  individual  thereby 
lessened.  Excessive  gymnastics  often  result  in  pre- 
mature hardening  of  the  muscles  and  retardation  of 
their  growth,  superiority  in  some  special  sport,  as 
throwing  the  discus  or  placing  the  shot,  demonstrating 
the  point,  for  the  strain  is  often  thrown  on  one  set  of 
muscles  to  the  expense  of  others,  resulting  in  unsymmet- 
rical  development. 

Careful  investigation  has  shown  that  each  muscle  or 
group  of  muscles  has,  with  certain  fairly  well-defined 
limits,  a  fixed  weight  or  load  called  the  physiological 
load  or  equation,  under  which  it  can  perform  the  great- 
est amount  of  work.  As  this  varies  with  each  muscle  or 
each  group  of  muscles,  and  even  with  each  individual, 
it  must  be  given  due  consideration  in  all  physical  exer- 
cise. Although  dangers  from  excesses  still  exist,  they 
have  been  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  the  thorough  train- 
ing of  modern  instructors;  according  to  the  present 
slow  rate  of  progress,  however,  three  or  four  generations 
must  pass  away  before  physical  culture  can  be  uni- 
formly adopted  in  our  pubHc  schools.  It  is  estimated 
that  out  of  approximately  seventeen  million  school 
children  less  than  one-fourth  are  receiving  systematic 
physical  training  from  competent  instructors. 


132  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

As  the  true  aim  of  all  physical  training  should  be  to 
teach  how  to  acquire  and  maintain  good  health,  phy- 
sique, and  the  subordination  of  the  physical  to  the 
psychical  forces,  the  teacher,  and  later  the  pupil,  should 
fully  comprehend  what  is  meant  by  growth  and  de- 
velopment, and  the  influence  of  exercise  on  these  pro- 
cesses. 

Boys  are  slightly  larger  than  girls  at  birth,  and  both 
grow  rapidly  during  the  first  two  years  of  life,  and 
slowly  during  the  third  and  fourth  years,  though  the 
boys  forge  ahead  from  the  start.  This  difference  in 
growth  is  especially  marked  from  the  fifth  to  the  ninth 
or  tenth  year  when  conditions  are  reversed  and  the 
girls  outstrip  the  boys  both  in  height  and  weight. 
These  changed  conditions  obtain  from  three  to  four 
years  when  the  boys  again  take  the  lead  and  complete 
their  growth  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  or  twenty-four, 
while  the  girls  attain  their  complete  growth  at  ninteen 
or  twenty.  The  year  of  most  rapid  growth  for  girls  is 
thirteen,  and  for  boys  sixteen.  In  both  sexes  the  period 
of  accelerated  development  is  preceded  and  followed 
V  by  a  period  of  retarded  development,  and  in  both  sexes, 
too,  there  are  minor  variations  and  rhythms  in  develop- 
ment, and  there  are  also  evidences  of  diurnal,  weekly 
and  seasonal  rates  of  development.  As  the  growth  of 
the  body  is  merely  the  sum  of  the  growth  of  its  parts, 
it  is  obviously  as  important  to  understand  the  growth 
of  the  parts  as  of  the  whole.     We  know  that  the  rate  of 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  133 

growth  in  height  and  weight  is  usually  inverse.  Thus, 
boys  grow  in  height  two  and  one-half  times  more  from 
April  to  August  than  from  August  to  November,  while 
the  rate  of  growth  in  weight  is  much  greater  from 
August  to  November  than  from  April  to  August;  that 
is  when  the  height  rate  is  at  its  maximum  the  weight 
rate  is  at  its  minimum  and  vice  versa. 

Growth  focuses  and  centers  about  different  organs 
or  sets  of  organs  for  a  certain  period  and  then  changes 
to  another,  each  group  of  muscles  having  its  period  of 
accelerated  and  retarded  rate  of  growth.  The  muscles 
of  the  upper  arm  and  shoulders  are  susceptible  of  de- 
velopment much  earlier  than  the  small  muscles  in  the 
lower  arms  and  fingers,  while  the  heart  and  lungs  have 
their  greatest  development  during  the  years  of  adoles- 
cence. The  growth  of  the  brain  is  about  nine  times  as 
great  from  birth  to  the  fourth  year  as  from  the  fourth 
year  to  the  eighth  or  ninth  year,  when  it  practically 
reaches  maturity.  ^^ 

Not  only  the  time,  but  the  manner  of  development 
is  a  factor  of  great  physiological  importance  and  sig- 
nificance. Thus,  the  muscles  grow  stronger  from  the 
center  of  the  body  towards  the  extremities,  the  bones 
also  grow  from  their  centers  to  their  extremities.  The 
mind,  too,  has  its  periods  of  accelerated  and  retarded 
development.  Its  capacities  are  not  all  unfolded  at  the 
same  time,  but  one  by  one  in  regular  order.  These, 
however,  may  vary  at  times  in  their  rate  of  growth,  and 


134  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

may  at  times  overlap  each  other.  The  first  days, 
months,  and  even  years  of  a  child's  hfe  are  concerned 
chiefly  in  accumulating  sense  experience  for  later 
elaboration  into  memory  and  thought  experiences. 

Health  statistics  of  German  school  children  show 
that  those  children  that  do  not  go  to  school  until  they 
are  seven  years  of' age  become  stronger  and  in  all  other 
respects  are  better  developed  than  those  that  start  a 
year  sooner;  furthermore,  that  in  the  higher  schools 
for  boys,  where  there  are  gymnastic  exercises  but  no 
studies  in  the  afternoon,  the  percentage  of  sickness 
varies  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  per  cent,  and  in  those 
schools  where  children  are  forced  to  study  in  the  after- 
noon without  physical  exercise,  the  percentage  is  as 
high  as  seventy-nine  per  cent.  It  is  also  found  that 
school  work  suffers  in  quaHty  with  the  length  of  the 
session;  that  forenoon  work  is  always  better  than  that 
of  the  afternoon,  and  that  the  quality  of  work,  too,  is 
always  better  when  the  half  day's  session  has  two  brief 
recesses. 

^  The  chief  object  in  all  physical  training  is  a  unity  of 
purpose  sufficiently  broad  and  comprehensive  to  in- 
clude the  whole  nature  of  the  child,  physical,  mental, 
and  moral.  Although  each  organ  of  the  body  is  com- 
posed of  groups  of  cells  which  are  differentiated  ac- 
cording to  the  special  function  they  are  to  perform, 
each  individual  group  is  intimately  connected,  by  Hues 
of  intercommunications  with  every  other  group  and 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  135 

cell,  SO  that  the  body  acts  as  a  unit  in  all  its  vital  func- 
tions. Any  physical  culture,  therefore,  that  is  not 
broad  enough  to  include  this  threefold  nature  of  the 
child  is  to  that  extent  defective  and  harmful. 

"The  soul  is  not  the  body,  and  the  breath  is  not  the  flute, 
Both  together  make  the  music;  either  marred  and  all  is  mute." 

Physiologists  tell  us  that  during  each  wave  of  con- 
traction of  a  muscle  the  tissue  fluids  are  forced  onward, 
and  the  arterioles  become  dilated,  thereby  admitting 
of  more  nutrition;  during  each  wave  of  relaxation  the 
tissue  juices  and  waste  products  are  sucked  into  the 
lymph  channels  to  be  carried  to  the  blood  in  the  veins. 
The  increased  afflux  of  blood  to  a  structure  or  organ 
through  its  increased  exercise  is  exempUfied  by  the 
ingenious  experiments  of  Mosso  who,  as  is  well  known, 
demonstrated  that,  when  a  man  is  placed  in  a  horizontal 
position  on  a  delicately  balanced  table  the  head  portion 
of  the  table  goes  down  during  the  act  of  thinking.  Thus, 
in  nearly  every  form  of  muscular  exercise  up  to  the  point 
of  exhaustion,  the  blood  is  attracted  from  the  heart 
through  the  arteries,  at  a  rate  proportionate  to  the  in- 
tensity of  the  exercise.  The  result  is  increased  capil- 
lary pressure  and  consequent  increased  flow  of  blood 
through  the  veins  toward  the  heart,  stimulating  that 
organ  to  more  frequent  and  vigorous  action.  Even  if 
there  be  no  effort  whatever  to  exercise  the  chest,  imder 
such  circumstances  the  increased  action  of  the  heart 


136  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

and  the  greater  demand  for  oxygen  tends  to  quicken  the 
aspirating  movements,  increasing  the  exchange  of  gases 
between  the  blood  and  the  air.  The  tremendous  im- 
portance of  some  form  of  chest  gymnastics  can  be  ap- 
preciated when  it  is  remembered  that  even  in  health  less 
than  one-seventh  of  the  air  in  the  lungs  is  expelled  at 
each  expiration,  the  remaining  six-sevenths  of  the  air 
in  the  lungs  being  retained  as  residual  air  to  become 
more  or  less  contaminated  with  the  bi-products  of 
metabolism.  By  full,  deep  respiratory  movements 
with  the  alternate  expansion  and  contraction  of  the 
chest  walls,  the  volume  of  tidal  air  inhaled  and  exhaled 
is  materially  increased,  the  exchange  of  gases  between 
the  blood  and  air  is  accelerated,  the  contraction  of  the 
heart  becomes  more  frequent  and  vigorous,  the  sluggish 
blood  in  the  veins  and  the  contents  of  the  lymphatics 
are  squeezed  outward  and  onward,  and  all  the  vital 
processes  given  greater  impetus.  The  larger  the 
muscles  the  greater  the  amount  of  debris  of  broken 
down  tissue  is  there  to  be  disposed  of.  If  the  lung 
capacity  is  correspondingly  large,  well  and  good;  but 
if  not,  the  large  muscles  are  a  distinct  hindrance.  As 
the  smallest  muscle  in  the  smallest  finger  has,  through 
nerve  fibers,  direct  connection  with  some  part  of  the 
brain,  a  failure  to  develop  such  a  muscle  means  a  failure 
to  develop  the  corresponding  brain  area.  At  the  time 
of  the  most  rapid  development  of  an  organ  or  structure, 
and  at  the  time  of  its  greatest  functional  activity,  it 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  137 

needs  extra  nutrition  through  extra  blood  supply. 
Thus,  during  close  and  protracted  study  the  brain  needs 
more  than  the  ordinary  amount  of  nutrition.  Again 
at  the  very  time  of  life  during  early  adolescence,  when 
the  school  is  demanding  the  heaviest  brain  work,  the 
heart  and  lungs  are  making  their  greatest  growth,  the 
one  process,  in  a  measure,  antagonizing  the  other. 
Hence,  all  physical  exercise  should  be  adapted  to  and 
made  to  harmonize  with  these  variations  in  the  blood 
balance.  The  amount  of  exercise  necessary  to  accom- 
plish a  given  result  will  vary  in  proportion  to  the  rate  of 
growth  of  the  parts  to  be  especially  affected;  less  being 
needed  at  the  time  of  most  rapid  development,  and 
more  during  periods  of  retarded  and  completed  develop- 
ment. 

The  stooping  posture,  so  comjtnon  among  children 
while  studying  at  their  desks,  not  only  favors  spinal 
curvature  but  also  tends  to  displace  and  bring  undue 
pressure  upon  nearly  all  the  abdominal  and  thoracic 
viscera.  The  vital  capacity,  as  tested  by  the  amount 
of  air  that  can  be  expelled  into  a  spirometer,  is  from 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  in  stoop-shouldered 
and  flat-chested  persons  while  in  their  accustomed 
posture  than  in  the  same  persons  when  standing  erect. 
If  this  rule  holds  good,  which  it  doubtless  does  in  nor- 
mal respiration,  it  means  that  twenty-five  per  cent, 
more  life  giving  oxygen  is  taken  into  the  system  while 
in  the  erect  than  in  the  stooping  posture.     It  is  difficult, 


138  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

therefore,  to  estimate  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
proper  physical  exercise  upon  body,  mind  and  charac- 
ter. The  erect,  well  poised  body,  and  the  definite, 
forceful  and  free  movement  of  all  the  Kmbs  gives  an 
impetus  to  the  vital  organs,  sends  an  extra  supply  of 
blood  to  all  parts  of  the  body,  and  brings  a  conscious- 
ness of  self  and  of  the  dignity  and  importance  of  life. 
The  erect  position  then  is  in  itself  both  a  physical  and 
moral  exercise. 

"Unless  above  himself  he  can 
Erect  himself,  how  mean  a  thing  is  man." 

The  mind  and  body  are  so  intimately  interrelated 
that  an  experienced  observer  can  see  in  a  boy  with  a 
slow  shuffling  gait,  and  in  the  boy  with  a  quick,  jerky 
gait,  minds  and  characters  closely  corresponding  to 
these  respective  physical  conditions.  Change  these 
abnormal  into  normal  movements,  and  much  will  have 
been  done  towards  the  transformation  of  mind  and 
character.  This  is  accompKshed  in  the  first  instance 
by  substituting  an  active,  healthy  vital  process  for  one 
sluggist  and  unhealthy;  and  in  the  second,  a  regular, 
rhythmical  vital  process  for  one  fitful  and  spasmodic. 
Both  are  Ukely  to  live  longer,  make  better  citizens,  and 
be  happier  as  the  result  of  the  change  Both  vice  and 
disease  are  attracted  towards  those  that  are  constitu- 
tionally weak,  and  repelled  by  those  that  are  strong. 
The  aim,  therefore,  of  all  physical  culture  is  to  develop 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  139 

the  latent  possibilities,  inherent  in  the  individual;  to 
inspire  reverence  for  the  body,  and  a  due  appreciation 
of  sanitary  science;  to  develop  the  will  that  the  phys- 
ical self  may  be  subordinated  to  the  mental  and  moral 
self. 

"Then  the  tongue  will  be  framed  to  music 
And  the  hand  be  armed  with  skill, 
The  face  be  the  mold  of  beauty, 
And  the  heart  the  throne  of  the  will." 

Formerly  the  arguments  of  educators  in  favor  of 
physical  culture  in  the  school  centered  around  the 
development  of  the  special  senses,  and  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  lines  of  intercommunication  between  the 
countless  thousands  of  nerve  fibers,  in  the  brain  mass, 
which  connect  each  group  of  cells  with  every  other 
group  in  the  brain,  in  the  process  of  education.  The 
tendency,  therefore,  was  to  emphasize  the  psychic 
rather  than  the  physical  eiSects  of  such  exercise.  But 
since  it  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  that  the 
most  perfect  physical  exercise  gives  the  best  psychic 
results  by  coordinating  and  correlating  all  the  physical 
and  psychic  forces,  whether  so  intended  or  not,  edu- 
cators have  come  to  be  the  most  pronounced  champions 
of  physical  culture  for  its  combined  effects.  Next  to 
physicians  they  can  see,  as  few  others  can,  the  fearful 
tendency  towards  physical  deterioration  following  in 
the  wake  of  advancing  civilization.     They  can  see,  by 


I40  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

the  side  of  the  intellectual  giant,  the  feeble  minded; 
by  the  side  of  the  genius,  the  degenerate;  by  the  side 
of  the  strong,  the  weak,  the  delicate,  the  pale,  pinched 
products  of  overcrowded  cities.  Mr.  Spencer  says: 
"Perhaps  nothing  will  hasten  the  time  when  body  and 
mind  will  be  adequately  cared  for  as  a  diffusion  of  the 
belief  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  physical  morality. 
The  fact  is  that  all  breaches  of  the  laws  of  health  are 
physical  sins. '' 

The  people  of  ancient  Hellas  attained  to  their  supe- 
riority in  physical  form  and  feature  through  ceaseless 
practice  of  games  and  gymnastics.  To  them  the  care 
of  the  body  was  a  matter  of  ethics.  They  believed 
that  their  gods  inhabited  human  forms,  the  most  per- 
fect and  beautiful  that  man  or  gods  could  conceive  of. 
Hence,  their  highest  aim  was  to  pattern  after  and  strive 
to  reach  physical  perfection.  This  may  account,  too, 
for  their  superior  intellectual  achievements,  and  that 
"incomparable  shining  forth  of  the  soul  in  cold  marble " 
in  the  best  specimens  of  Greek  sculpture.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  early  Christians  in  their  zeal  for  internal 
perfection,  and  their  hatred  for  all  things  formal  and 
pagan,  crucified  the  flesh  that  holiness  of  soul  might  be 
manifest. 

So,  while  the  Grecian  youth  glorified  his  god  through 
his  physical  perfection  and  physical  possibiHties,  the 
overzealous  Christian  sought  to  glorify  his  God  and 
show  forth  his  purity  of  soul  by  flaggellation,  fasting 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  1 41 

and  exposure.  But  fortunately  for  the  race  the  flagel- 
lant and  the  cloister  are  rapidly  passing  into  history, 
and  the  corporal  man,  "the  temple  of  the  holy  spirit" 
is  again  coming  into  its  own. 

Much  of  the  credit  for  the  progress  in  physical  cul- 
ture and  the  stimulation  of  pubUc  sentiment  in  its  favor 
is  due  to  the  ceaseless  efforts  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  and  the  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union.  They  have  been  among  the  very  first  to 
see  the  truth  of  Rosseau's  apparent  paradoxical  maxim, 
"The  weaker  the  body  the  more  it  commands,  and  the 
stronger  the  body  the  more  it  obeys."  So,  with  the 
clergy,  the  educators,  and  the  physicians,  who  are 
striving  separately,  one  to  build  up  the  spiritual,  one 
the  mental,  and  one  the  physical  man,  yet  united  in  one 
tremendous  effort  to  build  up  and  rejuvenate  the  whole 
man,  may  we  not  hope  even  for  greater  progress  in  the 
near  future  than  we  have  made  in  the  recent  past? 

But  in  order  to  obtain  the  best  possible  results  it  will 
be  necessary  first,  to  elevate  physical  culture  from  the 
secondary  position  it  now  occupies  to  the  exalted  posi- 
tion in  the  educational  field  its  importance  demands. 
It  should  mean  more  than  mere  gymnastic  exercises  or 
competitive  athletics;  more  than  a  few  champion  teams 
for  our  high  schools,  colleges  and  universities.  It 
should  mean  the  physical,  mental  and  spiritual  re- 
juvenation of  the  individual  and  the  race. 

"If  the  time  ever  comes  when  this  science  is  rec- 


142  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

ognized  as  its  merits  warrant,  and  men  and  women 
everywhere  practice  their  daily  exercises  (including 
daily  ablutions)  as  regularly  as  they  take  their  daily 
meals,  sickness  will  be  an  old  woman's  tale,  and  death 
but  the  falling  to  earth,  as  a  ripe  and  luscious  apple  in 
the  fullness  of  fruition  drops  from  the  tree. " 

It  is  putting  it  mildly  to  say  that  the  enthusiastic 
advocates  of  the  formal  study  of  hygiene  in  our  public 
schools  have  been  as  sadly  disappointed  with  results, 
as  have  been  the  advocates  of  the  formal  study  of  civics 
and  ethics.  All  are  coming  to  reaUze  that  that  which 
is  to  be  acted  out  in  adult  hfe  is  best  learned  by  being 
acted  out  in  childhood  and  adolescent  Hfe.  It  is  not 
the  purpose  of  physical  culture  to  develop  a  race  of 
giants  or  Roman  gladiators,  but  to  make  the  weak 
strong,  the  timid  courageous,  the  crooked  straight,  and 
the  brazen  reserved.  In  other  words,  its  purpose  is  to 
develop  a  race  which  will  be  wiser,  Hve  longer,  and 
make  the  world  happier.  To  this  end  there  should  be 
no  cessation  of  intelHgent  physical  culture  between  the 
kindergarten  and  the  high  school  and  college.  The 
student  should  not  only  practice  physical  culture  but 
he  should  learn  what  it  has  done  for  other  individuals 
and  nations.  It  is  as  important  that  he  study  the 
music,  the  oratory,  the  sculpture  and  athletics  of  a 
nation  as  to  study  its  revolutions  and  dynasties.  We 
need  a  national  system  of  physical  culture,  drill,  and 
discipline,  selected  from  the  best  of  all  the  systems 


NEED  OF  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  143 

which  will  be  as  applicable  to  America  as  the  German 
and  Swedish  systems  are  to  these  respective  countries. 

"What  constitutes  the  state? 


Not  high  raised  battlements  or  labored  mound, 
Thick  wall  or  moated  gate, 
Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned. 
Not  bays  and  broad  armored  ports, 

No;  men,  high-minded  men,  with  power  far  above  dumb 

brutes  imbued. 
Men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing  dare  maintain — 

These  constitute  the  state." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE  OF  PLAY. 

In  1909  a  bill  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
playgrounds  for  children  in  Washington  City  was  de- 
feated in  the  American  Congress,  chiefly  through  the 
dilatory  tactics  of  a  member  who  sneeringly  said  that 
"You  had  as  well  try  to  teach  a  fish  to  swim  as  a  child 
to  play."  He  insisted  that,  as  play  was  natural  with 
the  child,  supervised  play  was  worthless  if  not  harmful 
because  imnatural.  In  common  with  this,  and  many 
other  present-day  statesmen,  many  of  us  are  more  or 
less  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  the  old-fashioned  farm 
life  of  a  century  ago  is  rapidly  giving  way  to  over- 
crowded cities  with  their  deteriorating  influences. 
Thus,  in  1800  about  three  per  cent,  of  the  population 
in  the  United  States  lived  in  cities  of  eight  thousand  and 
over,  while  in  19CX)  more  than  thirty- three  per  cent,  of 
our  population  lived  in  five  hundred  and  forty-six  cities 
of  this  size,  and  one-fifth  of  our  entire  population  lived 
in  thirty-eight  great  cities.  In  19 10  more  than  fifteen 
million  lived  in  nineteen  cities  with  over  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand,  more  than  twenty  million  lived  in 
cities  with  over  one  hundred  thousand  while  eight 

145 


146  AMERICAN  BAD  BOYS  IN  THE   MAKING. 

million  lived  in  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  cities 
of  from  twenty-five  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand. 
To  say,  then,  that  children  take  to  play  as  naturally  as 
a  duck  takes  to  water  argues  but  little  if  there  is  no 
place  for  either  the  child  to  play  or  for  the  duck  to 
swim. 

It  is  worse  than  mockery  to  expatiate  upon  the 
tendency  of  children  to  repeat  in  their  play  the  history 
of  the  race  by  climbing,  hunting,  fishing,  building  fires 
and  constructing  houses  if  they  have  not  even  a  micro- 
scopic back  yard  in  which  to  follow  out  these  instincts, 
as  is  the  case  with  milHons  of  children  in  this  country. 
If,  as  physiologists  tell  us,  the  growing  child  hungers 
for  muscular  exercise  as  truly  as  he  hungers  for  food 
and  drink,  is  it  not  as  cruel,  not  to  say  as  criminal,  to 
deprive  him  of  one  of  these  essentials  as  the  other? 
And  if  this  be  true  of  the  average  child  in  good  homes, 
is  it  not  doubly  so  with  the  children  in  over-crowded 
tenement  districts,  where  food  is  scarce,  where  the  air 
is  stuffy  and  where  the  sunshine  seldom  comes?  For 
such  children  even  supervised  play  is  evidently  better 
than  no  play. 

There  is  no  disposition  whatever  on  the  part  of  the 
enthusiastic  advocates  of  outdoor  exercise  to  substitute 
play,  vacation  or  recess  schools,  as  the  new  national 
movement  is  variously  called,  for  formal  physical 
exercise,  but  rather  is  it  their  purpose  to  offer  these 
natural  elastic  exercises  as  a  supplement  to  those  that 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  PLAY.  147 

are  rigid  and  unnatural.  Both  forms  are  necessary  in 
our  over-complex  social  life,  especially  in  over-crowded 
cities,  but  games  and  plays  have  the  advantage,  in  that, 
wherever  possible,  they  are  carried  on  in  the  open  air. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  in  playing  baseball,  football, 
basket-ball,  lacrosse,  or  in  puUing  up  (chinning),  placing 
the  shot,  making  the  standing  broad  or  running  long 
jump,  or  the  fifty,  one  hundred,  three  hundred  or  four 
hundred-yard  dash  in  the  open  air  and  in  swinging 
dumb-bells  or  Indian  clubs  in  stuffy  athletic  rooms.  If 
health  comes  in  through  ''the  muscles  and  flies  out 
through  the  nerves'^  nothing  is  better  suited  to  restore 
this  equiHbrium  than  properly  regulated  exercise  in  the 
open  air.  This  is  as  true  in  the  case  of  girls  as  of  boys, 
as  outdoor  exercise  can  be  more  readily  adjusted  to  suit 
their  needs  than  can  be  done  in  cramped  indoor  artifi- 
cial athletics.  With  increased  outdoor  athletics  during 
recent  years,  girls  are  rapidly  escaping  their  well-known 
tendency  to  tuberculosis  and  anaemia  and  chlorosis 
during  adolescence. 

One  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  games  and 
plays  as  a  means  of  exercise  for  children  of  both  sexes 
is  the  significant  fact  that  from  earHest  recorded  times 
throughout  the  ages  children's  plays  have  been  largely 
the  same,  thereby  indicating  their  natural  or  instinctive 
origin.  From  this  we  are  to  infer  that  the  more  in- 
stinctive a  movement  is  the  less  exercise  necessary  for 
its  development,  and  vice  versa. 


148  AMERICAN  BAD   BOYS  IN  THE  MAKING. 

This  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the  comparative  ease 
with  which  a  child  learns  to  walk  and  the  extreme  dif- 
ficulty with  which  it  learns  to  write.  As  the  purpose 
of  all  education  is  to  develop  the  latent  possibilities  of 
the  child  it  follows  that  the  chief  function  of  the  teacher, 
especially  of  athletics,  is  to  watch  these  tendencies  and 
direct  their  proper  development.  Since  hereditary 
racial  motor  tendencies  are  repeated  in  plays  of  children 
it  is  obvious  that  development  is  best  fostered  through 
properly  regulated  plays. 

Another  fact  of  overwhelming  significance  in  this 
connection  is  the  recognition  of  certain  nascent  periods 
in  the  development  of  parts  of  the  human  organism  and 
of  the  organism  as  a  whole,  and  that  children's  games 
and  plays  not  only  tend  to  follow  hereditary  racial 
tendencies  but  also  to  conform  in  a  measure  to  these 
nascent  periods.  Hence  the  tendency  of  groups  of 
children  the  world  over  to  vary  their  exercises  accord- 
ing to  these  impeUing,  determining  forces.  The  great 
advantage  in  following  these  instincts  is  that  so  far  the 
closest  research  has  not  revealed  any  logical  arrange- 
ment in  the  manner  or  time  of  the  development  of  these 
nascent  periods.  Though  hidden  somewhere  in  the 
deep  mysteries  of  racial  development,  they  unquestion- 
ably exert  a  potent  influence  in  the  normal  develop- 
ment of  the  child.  Any  empirical  exercise,  therefore, 
not  in  rythmical  consonance  with  these  nascent  periods 
is  likely  to  be  ineffective  if  not  actually  harmful.     A 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  PLAY.  149 

case  in  point  is  the  well-known  failures  attending  efforts 
to  develop  the  thoracic  viscera,  heart  and  lungs,  prior 
to  the  period  of  their  greatest  nascency,  during  ado- 
lescence and  the  marked  success  attending  such  efforts 
during  this  period. 

t^Play,  therefore,  is  not  only  the  most  natural  form  of 
exercise  but,  when  properly  regulated,  especially  with 
reference  to  these  nascent  periods,  one  of  the  most  ef- 
fective aids  to  symmetrical  physical  development.  In 
order  to  avoid  excesses  in  any  form  of  exercise  it  is  im- 
portant to  keep  the  limitations  and  needs  of  the  growing 
child  ever  in  mind,  yet  as  play  is  expressive  rather  than 
repressive  and  is  in  a  great  measure  a  response  to  the 
growing  needs  of  the  organism  there  is  less  danger  of 
either  over  or  under  work  of  a  part  of  the  organism 
or  of  the  organism  as  a  whole  in  play  than  in  formal 
physical  culture. 

Moreover,  since  many  of  these  natural  rythmical, 
vibratory  movements,  are  often  expressive  of  physical 
changes  in  the  organism  they  may  be  woven  into 
rythmical  games  and  plays  with  great  physiological 
advantage.  Correct  physical  attitudes,  proper  chest 
expansion,  graceful  and  harmonious  movements  can 
thus  be  made  a  part  of  various  games  and  plays.  The 
former  widespread  skepticism  in  regard  to  the  educa- 
tional value  of  play  or  even  of  any  form  of  physical 
exercise  was  largely  due  to  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
essential  unity  of  mind  and  body.  But  the  belated 
recognition  of  this  unity  and  the  further  recognition 


ISO  AMERICAN  BAD   BOYS  IN   THE   MAKING. 

of  the  inestimable  value  of  physical  culture  on  brain 
nutrition,  and  indirectly  upon  educational  processes, 
has  only  tended  to  emphasize  the  superior  benefits  of 
properly  regulated  play  as  an  aid  to  education  over 
nearly  all  other  forms  of  exercise. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  formal  physical  culture  re- 
quires more  or  less  concentration  of  attention  while 
play  is  spontaneous  the  latter  affords  vastly  more 
mental  rest  for  the  same  period  of  time  than  the  former 
and  as  a  consequence  offers  greater  safeguards  against 
fatigue.  This  insures  a  maximum  of  mental  efficiency 
with  a  minimum  of  expenditure  of  nervous  energy.  It 
is  therefore  especially  suited  to  the  harmonious  co- 
ordination and  correlation  of  physical  and  psychical 
forces  and  the  conservation  of  nerve  energy  in  mental 
processes.  But  it  is  in  its  hygienic  and  social  aspect, 
perhaps,  that  play  proves  its  greatest  superiority  over 
all  other  forms  of  exercise.  It  is  here  that  the  maxim, 
"To  brace  the  mind  we  must  strengthen  the  muscle'' 
is  given  double  significance,  since  the  individual  must 
learn  to  regulate  his  own  conduct  to  conform  to  the 
rights  of  others.  While  the  will  is  thus  being  strength- 
ened through  the  strengthening  of  the  muscle,  it  is  also 
being  fortified  through  subordination  to  the  will  of  the 
social  group.  Although  this  is  the  most  important,  it  is 
also  the  most  difficult  lesson  that  children  are  called 
upon  to  learn.  Its  importance  increases  just  in  pro- 
portion as  social  complexity  increases  and  its  diflS- 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE  OF  PLAY.  151 

culties  are  largely  in  proportion  to  the  former  isolation 
of  children. 

This  acounts,  in  a  measure,  for  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty experienced  by  the  youngest  and  the  only  sons  of 
their  parents  in  adjusting  their  conduct  to  the  require- 
ments of  large  social  groups.  It  also  helps  to  explain 
why  an  undue  proportion  of  these  boys  find  their  way 
into  penal  and  reformatory  institutions.  This  same 
difficulty,  though  probably  to  a  less  degree,  is  experi- 
enced by  members  of  isolated  families  and  of  isolated 
tribes  or  clans.  Children  therefore,  learn  self-control 
largely  in  proportion  to  the  sphere  of  their  social  train- 
ing. The  more  restricted  the  social  sphere  the  less  self- 
control  and  vice  versa. 

yjAJ though  the  chief  advantage  claimed  for  the  public 
over  the  private  schools  is  their  greater  socializing  in- 
fluence yet,  regrettable  as  the  fact  is,  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that  the  highest  expectations  of  the  public  schools 
in  this  regard  have  not  so  far  been  realized.  Though 
they  are  the  acknowledged  melting  pot  into  which  the 
children  of  our  heterogenious  population  are  being 
molded  into  American  citizens  this  citizenship  is  falling 
far  short  of  the  ideal.  The  chief  defect  appears  to  be  a 
lack  of  physical  and  social  efficiency.  How  far  the 
growing  demand  for  a  reduced  curriculum  and  in- 
creased play  grounds  with  fewer  hours  at  school  and 
more  hours  at  play  will  correct  these  evils  remains  to  be 
seen.     That  it  is  already  doing  much  to  correct  the  first 


152  AMERICAN  BAD   BOYS   IN  THE   MAKING. 

of  these  evils  is  everywhere  in  evidence  and  that  it  will 
be  equally  effective  as  regards  the  other  is  fondly  hoped. 

For  a  boy  to  fall  in  line  and  march  rigidly  into  the 
classroom,  there  rigidly  recite  his  lessons  and  as  rigidly 
march  out  again,  does  not  make  him  in  the  broadest 
sense  a  social  unit  of  that  school.  The  situation  is  but 
little  relieved  by  the  inelastic  physical  culture  usually 
carried  on  in  school.  The  boy  is  still  deprived  of  one 
of  the  essential  social  requisites — an  opportunity  to 
develop  his  sympathies,  and  the  spirit  of  altruism  that 
hfts  him  above  selfish  aims  and  purposes. 

"Unless  he  can  above  himself  erect  himself  how 
mean  a  thing  is  man.'^  The  first  important  social 
lesson  for  the  boy  is  to  learn  that  whatever  hurts  him — 
as  a  kick  or  blow  or  jostle — will  also  hurt  other  boys. 
This  can  be  learned  by  actual  experience  upon  the  play- 
ground much  more  readily  than  by  expostulations  from 
parents  and  teachers.  In  this  way  the  child  "  spHts  up 
into  his  other  selves,"  as  physiologists  call  it.  He  altern- 
ately becomes  the  I  and  the  you,  the  pursuer  and  the 
pursued,  the  it  and  the  not  it,  until  the  fighting  instinct 
of  which  all  aggressive  individuals  and  races  are  made  is 
wholly  transformed.  An  injustice  to  himself  or  his 
companion  becomes  an  injustice  to  the  whole  social 
group,  ^ence,  a  boy's  sense  of  justice  is  developed 
largely  in  proportion  to  the  expansion  of  his  sympathies. 
When  a  boy  comes  to  understand  that  justice  is  some- 
thing that  belongs  to  others  as  well  as  himself  he  is 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  PLAY.  153 

rapidly  becoming  socialized.  His  resentments  are  now 
directed  more  against  social  than  against  individual 
wrongs  and  he  is  as  ready  to  fight  for  civic  righteousness 
as  the  primitive  man  is  to  fight  for  personal  wrongs. 
As  sympathy  is  a  child  of  the  emotions  and  close  akin 
to  sentiment,  while  justice  is  the  outgrowth  of  reason 
and  judgment,  the  harmonious  development  of  the  two 
stand  for  the  highest  possibilities  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  race. 

While  sympathy  should  not  be  permitted  to  over- 
balance reason  and  judgment,  the  claims  of  justice 
should  not  be  permitted  to  degenerate  into  cruelty  or 
vindictiveness.  Surprising  evidence  of  large  sympathy 
and  a  high  sense  of  justice  in  boys  has  recently  been 
brought  to  light  in  Junior  Republics  and  other  self- 
governing  boy  organizations.  Boy  relief  corps  for 
dealing  with  offenders  and  adjusting  differences  have 
proved  eminently  successful  wherever  tried.  Com- 
munity play  organizations,  debating  societies  and 
neighborhood  lawn  meetings  have  accomplished  much 
in  securing  accessions  from  boy  gangs.  Anyone  who 
has  watched  boys  swarm  out  of  alleys  to  see  processions 
go  by  or  to  follow  bands  or  who  has  watched  half  a 
score  or  more  boys,  perhaps  dressed  in  fantastic  Indian 
attire,  with  imitation  guns  or  bows  and  arrows,  dash 
out  of  an  alley  in  full  pursuit  of  one  of  their  number, 
supposed  to  be  a  pale  face,  can  form  some  faint  con- 
ception of  the  tremendous  influence  that  music,  motion 
and  crowd  groupings  have  on  the  life  of  boys. 


154  AMERICAN  BAD   BOYS  IN  THE  MAKING. 

A  significant  suggestion  as  to  the  infinite  possibilities 
of  the  future  is  the  fact  that  as  soon  as  suitable  play 
grounds  are  established  in  close  proximity  to  densely 
populated  communities  gangs  begin  to  disappear. 
\rhe  alley  becomes  the  world  to  the  boy  brought  up  in 
restricted  city  areas.  He  gauges  everything  by  and 
locates  everything  in  the  alley  as  did  the  boy  who  was 
asked  by  his  Sunday  school  teacher  where  Adam  and 
Eve  hid  when  the  Lord  came  into  the  Garden,  when  he 
said,  "In  the  alley.''  The  results  of  experiments  in 
biological  laboratories  strikingly  illustrate  the  marked, 
effect  of  surroundings  on  development.  It  has  been 
thus  shown  that  if  a  number  of  the  lower  forms  of  life, 
tadpoles,  for  instance,  of  the  same  size,  age  and  parent- 
age be  placed  in  jars  of  varying  size,  some  in  the  small- 
est, some  in  the  next  larger  and  some  in  the  largest  size, 
that  they  will  develop  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  their 
respective  jars. 

Important  lessons  in  regard  to  the  value  of  space  on 
physical  and  ipental  efficiency  have  been  gained  by 
experiments  with  classes  in  the  mechanic  arts,  especially 
with  classes  in  difficult  and  delicate  handicraft.  These 
experiments  have  shown  that  with  the  same  tools,  light, 
temperament  and  ventilation,  the  same  pupils  can  do 
much  better  work  and  do  it  more  expeditiously  in  a 
class  of  fifteen  pupils  in  a  room  than  when  there  are 
thirty  pupils  in  a  room  of  the  same  size.  Indeed,  it  is 
said  that  an  expert  can  select  from  a  mixed  sample  of 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  PLAY.  155 

the  work  of  such  classes  that  which  was  done  by  the 
fifteen  from  that  done  by  the  thirty  pupil  class.  The 
former  apprehension  that  the  better  class  of  students 
might  be  injured  morally  by  intimate  association  on 
the  playground  with  the  more  vicious  classes  has  proved 
to  be  wholly  unfounded.  Since  the  teacher  is  present 
to  observe  every  movement,  and  since  pupils  are  held 
to  the  same  strict  accountability  for  conduct  on  the 
playground  as  they  are  in  the  school,  the  tendency 
is  rather  to  lift  up  the  bad  than  to  drag  down  the 
good.  The  expenditure  of  surplus  energy  through 
vigorous  play  is  the  surest  preventive  against  fighting 
once  so  common  on  the  play  ground.  The  spirit  of 
imitation,  of  emulation,  of  higher  aspirations  and 
hopes  of  success  pervades  the  whole  playground  at- 
mosphere. When  a  boy  of  unfortunate  home  influences 
once  comes  in  touch  with  this  upward  impelling  force 
he  instinctively  feels  the  inspiration  and  tends  to  move 
in  the  direction  of  that  force. 

This  is  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the  boy 
who  was  sitting  on  the  side  of  the  street  pavement 
looking  intently  upward  with  both  hands  also  extended 
upwards,  as  if  holding  something  firmly,  and  when 
asked  by  a  passerby  what  he  was  doing,  said  '^I  am 
flying  my  kite,"  and  when  the  man  told  him  that  he  did 
not  see  any  kite,  the  boy  repKed,  "Neither  do  I,  but  I 
feel  it  pull."  The  former  fear,  too,  of  excesses  appears 
not  to  have  been  well  founded.     As  the  movements  are 


156  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

voluntary  and  are  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the 
teacher  or  superintendent  there  is  really  less  danger  of 
excesses  than  in  formal  physical  culture.  Besides, 
games  and  plays  appear  to  be  especially  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  feeble  and  lethargic,  both  in  body  and 
mind.  The  same  is  true  in  the  case  of  the  nervous  and 
of  the  anaemic.  Voluntary  movements,  fresh  air  and 
sunshine  usually  bring  better  results  than  do  tonics 
and  sedatives. 

Teachers  have  learned  that  the  surest  and  quickest 
way  to  transform  a  disorderly  indifferent  class  into  an 
orderly  and  interested  one  is  through  physical  exercise, 
especially  in  the  form  of  games  and  plays.  In  the 
games  there  is  a  better  moral  influence  because  the 
child  enjoys  the  effort  put  forth  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  definite  purpose.  The  element  of  joy  is  most 
important  because  every  good  feature  of  character 
grows  more  rapidly  in  joyous  conditions.  Joy  is  the 
sunshine  that  gives  vitality  to  good  principle.  More- 
over, exercise  which  results  from  and  develops  self 
activity  insures  the  highest  propulsive  power  and  tends 
to  make  of  the  individual  a  self-directing  agent.  No 
other  form  of  exercise  insures  this  to  such  a  degree  as 
does  well  directed  play.  The  boy  who  is  a  member  of 
a  team  must  be  self-reHant,  possess  complete  self-con- 
trol and  be  ever  on  the  alert.  He  must  decide  quickly 
and  act  accordingly.  He  must  act  on  the  square,  never 
shirk  a  responsibility,  be  courageous,  but  courteous. 


HYGIENIC  AND   SOCIAL  VALUE   OF  PLAY.  157 

aggressive  but  not  offensive,  hopeful  but  ever  ready  to 
yield  gracefully  to  defeat.  The  rules  of  the  game  must 
be  as  scrupulously  obeyed  as  is  the  law  of  the  land. 
Plato,  says  "If  children  are  trained  to  submit  to  laws 
in  their  plays,  the  love  of  law  will  enter  their  souls  with 
music  accompanying  the  games,  never  leave  them  and 
helps  them  in  their  development.'' 

In  order  to  understand  something  of  the  tremendous 
interest  being  taken  in  outdoor  life  one  need  only  note 
the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  playgrounds,  parks, 
outdoor  athletics,  fresh  air  schools,  public  baths,  and 
the  multiplicity  of  boating,  motoring,  riding,  mountain 
climbing  and  camping-out  clubs.  The  Boy  Scout 
movement  and  the  National  Playground  Association 
are  perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  and  widespread 
expression  of  this  almost  universal  demand  for  out- 
door life,  especially  when  associated  with  games  and 
plays.  Anaxagoras,  the  Greek  philosopher,  when 
asked  during  his  last  conscious  moments  how  he  would 
have  the  anniversary  of  his  death  celebrated,  said  "Let 
the  boys  play." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OUR  UNHEALTHY  PUBLIC  MORAL  SENTIMENT. 

One  of  the  strangest  features  of  present-day  Ameri- 
can civilization  lies  in  the  degree  of  importance  at- 
tached to  the  different  virtues,  each  one  of  which  is 
equally  essential  to  a  uniform  development  of  the  social 
organism.  Because  of  this  inconsistency  we  are  con- 
fronted with  the  anomalous  condition  of  var)dng 
standards  of  morahty,  which  threaten  to  undermine  the 
basic  principles  of  our  civil  and  pohtical  institutions. 
So  long  as  crime  is  confined  to  the  lower  social  levels 
there  is  hope  for  its  extinction  and  a  chance  for  the 
average  youth  to  escape  its  baneful  influences.  But 
when  the  foimtainhead  of  social  life  becomes  polluted 
there  is  grave  danger  that  the  whole  social  current 
become  contaminated. 

That  the  vast  majority  of  American  citizens  are,  at 
heart,  honest  and  patriotic  is  abundantly  shown  by 
their  traditional  uprightness  in  private  life  and  their 
historic  devotion  to  their  country  in  time  of  great 
national  peril.  No  better  evidence  of  their  altruistic 
spirit  is  needed  than  the  magnificent  provision  they 
have  made  for  the  education  of  their  children,  the  care 

IS9 


l6o  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

of  their  dependents  and  their  ready  response  in  time  of 
pubHc  need.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  beUeve  that  a 
people  endowed  with  such  generous  traits  and  noble 
impulses  would  defy  public  opinion  and  engage  in  prac- 
tices, the  known  tendencies  of  which  are  to  injure  the 
public  and  poison  the  minds  of  the  young.  It  is  more 
in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  times  to  beheve  that 
such  acts  are  due,  rather  to  defective  ethical  standards 
than  to  individual  perversity.  It  is  almost  incon- 
ceivable that  a  man  who  scrupulously  practices  honest 
dealing  in  private  life  should  unscrupulously  manipu- 
late stocks,  thereby  defrauding  shareholders  and  de- 
ceiving the  public,  simply  because  he  happens  to 
belong  to  a  corporation,  unless  such  act  were,  in  a 
measure,  condoned  by  pubhc  moral  sentiment. 

An  illustration  of  the  truth  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
difference  in  the  standards  upheld  by  many  in  their 
deahngs  with  individuals  and  with  the  government,  or 
with  corporations.  They  appear  to  feel  under  less 
obligations  to  deal  honestly  with  the  latter  than  with 
the  former.  Again,  in  some  western  states,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Indian  Reservations,  there  is  often 
one  standard  for  dealing  with  Indians  and  another  for 
dealing  with  white  persons.  In  other  localities  the 
unsophisticated  immigrant  or  newcomer  is  considered 
a  legitimate  object  for  exploitation. 

The  American  people  are  so  imbued  with  the  idea  of 
success  at  any  price  that  the  magnitude  of  a  com- 


OUR   UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MORAL   SENTIMENT.    i6l 

promising  transaction  is  not  without  its  influence  upon 
public  sentiment.  A  man  who  obtains  a  few  dollars 
by  questionable  means  is  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  while 
the  man  who  obtains  a  few  millions  by  similar  means 
is  hailed  as  a  new  Napoleon  of  Finance.  For  a  great 
corporation  to  swindle  the  government  out  of  many 
millions  of  dollars  in  a  few  years  by  the  aid  of  false 
scales  and  the  connivance  of  venal  public  officials  is 
quite  American;  and  for  an  active  church  member  and 
prominent  Sunday  School  superintendent  in  puritan 
New  England  to  rob  the  bank  of  which  he  has  for  years 
been  the  trusted  cashier,  and  in  which  members  of  his 
church  and  Sunday  School  are  confiding  depositors,  is 
but  an  unfortunate  incident  in  American  high  finance. 
In  the  domain  of  politics,  too,  moral  sentiment  is 
equally  inconsistent.  The  responsibilities  of  citizen- 
ship rest  Hghtly  upon  many  high  in  social  and  political 
Hfe.  Self-righteous  citizens,  possessed  of  wealth  and 
affluence,  prompt  in  discharging  reHgious  obHgations, 
think  lightly  of  smuggling  imports  and  of  making  false 
tax  returns.  Elevation  to  high  official  position  is  too 
often  taken  as  a  license  for  the  exploitation  of  the 
government.  Fealty  to  party  and  loyalty  to  friends  is 
frequently  mistaken  for  genuine  patriotism.  Citizens 
who  would  risk  their  lives  in  repelling  an  invading  foe 
find  ample  justification  in  voting  with  their  party,  even 
when  such  vote  means  retention  in  office  of  a  clique 


l62  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

of  political  bandits  who  have  systematically  robbed 
the  pubHc  treasury  for  years. 

Even  when  great  moral  questions  are  submitted  to 
the  people  estimable  citizens  are  often  controlled  by 
commercial  interests  and  mercenary  motives  in  casting 
their  votes. 

As  a  member  of  the  State  Central  Committee  of  my 
party  in  my  native  state  for  a  number  of  years,  and  as 
a  representative  of  the  State  Campaign  Committee  in 
more  than  one  closely  contested  state  and  national 
election,  candor  compels  me  to  state,  humihating  as 
such  statement  may  be,  that  the  greater  bulk  of  the 
campaign  funds,  claimed  to  be  necessary  to  maintain 
literary  and  speakers'  bureaus,  seldom  leave  campaign 
headquarters  until  the  very  eve  of  election,  when  this 
preliminary  work  is  practically  completed  and  the  great 
battle  of  ballots  is  about  to  begin.  Then  it  is  des- 
patched by  swift  couriers  to  different  parts  of  the  state, 
or  rather  to  the  most  promising  missionary  fields.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  personal  observation  shows  that 
these  missionary  fields  increase  largely  in  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  funds  distributed  at  each  election. 

The  fault,  therefore,  is  not  so  much  due  to  the  venal- 
ity of  the  average  voter  as  the  encouragement  given 
by  the  example  of  those  of  larger  responsibility  in  social 
and  political  Hfe.  For  this  reason,  as  in  other  like 
cases,  ill-advised  legislation,  looking  to  the  restriction 
of  these  evils  in  advance  of  pubhc  sentiment,  usually 


OUR   UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MORAL   SENTIMENT.     163 

multiplies  offenses,  without  in  the  least  diminishing 
the  evil.  Even  the  AustraHan  ballot  and  the  direct 
primary  laws  have  not  met  the  sanguine  expectation 
of  their  advocates. 

In  nearly  every  town  and  city,  and  in  many  states 
of  the  Union,  it  is  claimed  that  offices  are  held,  public 
money  handled  and  pubUc  business  controlled  by  a 
powerful  organization  known  as  "The  Ring,"  which 
dictates  party  nominations  and  often  forces  unworthy 
men  upon  the  people.  But  the  blighting  curse  of 
nearly  every  legislative  body  in  the  country,  city,  state 
and  national,  is  the  ever  present  representative  of 
special  interests — the  lobbyist. 

Whether  he  is  to  deHver  an  address  before  a  com- 
mittee, appear  as  expert  witness,  cultivate  sentiment 
or  lay  snares  for  unsuspecting  members,  he  is  selected 
on  account  of  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  special  duties 
assigned  him.  The  startling  disclosures  made  during 
the  recent  investigation  of  municipal  affairs  in  many 
large  cities,  notably,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco  and 
Pittsburg,  show  that  the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  to  secure  or  defeat  certain  fran- 
chises is  considered  a  good  investment  by  interested 
corporations.  The  more  recent  disclosures  of  the 
wholesale  bribery  of  members  of  state  legislatures  in 
the  election  of  United  States  Senators  and  in  securing 
or  preventing  the  passage  of  certain  legislation  or 
letting  certain   contracts   and   the  embezzlement  of 


l64  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

public  funds  by  trusted  public  officials  give  color  to 
the  widespread  belief  among  the  masses  that  honesty 
and  patriotism  in  high  places  are  only  conventional 
terms  and  that  every  man  has  his  price. 

It  would  thus  appear  that  some  malign  influence 
had  suddenly  invaded  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the 
upper  social  strata  and  set  up  a  deadly  contagion  from 
which  few  in  high  position  are  entirely  immune.  But 
the  truth  is,  the  germs  of  many  of  these  evils  are  deep- 
seated  in  some  of  our  most  cherished  characteristics, 
if  not  in  our  much  boasted  institutions.  That  ad- 
mirable Anglo-Saxon  tendency  to  excel  at  every  pos- 
sible point,  when  unrestrained,  as  it  is  in  our  democratic 
country,  is  prone  to  excesses.  Again,  our  justly  lauded 
tendency  to  individual  initiative,  which  creates  a  kind 
of  friendly  rivalry  for  supremacy  among  the  members 
of  a  community,  is  not  without  its  dangers  and  abuses. 

From  his  earliest  recollection  the  American  boy  is 
taught  that  he  has  within  him  latent  possibilities  of 
greatness  in  almost  any  direction  his  genius  may  chance 
to  lead  him.  By  his  own  initative  he  may  become  a 
champion  athlete,  a  merchant  prince,  a  great  general 
or  even  a  president  of  the  United  States.  The  motto 
is  *' Succeed.''  Succeed  honestly  if  you  can,  but  suc- 
ceed. Means  must  be  subordinated  to  an  end.  The 
result  is  a  blind  rush  without  adequate  preparation  and 
without  due  regard  for  the  rights  of  others  for  an  un- 
known goal,  which  only  a  few,  and  these  not  always  the 


OUR   UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MORAL   SENTIMENT.    165 

most  worthy,  ever  reach,  "i  As  a  consequence,  those  who 
fail  become  embittered  against  our  institutions,  while 
those  who  succeed  in  the  highest  degree  become  defiant. 
Hence,  the  conservative  middle  classes  are  the  true 
repositors  of  our  civil  and  political  liberties. 

Nothwithstanding  our  democratic  pretentions,  we 
are  decidedly  aristocratic  in  our  tendencies  and  aspira- 
tions. Wealth  possesses  the  magic  power  of  trans- 
forming a  plebian  into  a  self-constituted  aristocrat  in 
an  incredibly  short  time.  Entrenched  behind  the 
power  and  prestige  that  great  wealth  affords,  the  once 
humble  defender  of  human  rights  becomes  the  arrogant 
champion  of  corporate  wealth,  while  the  once  typical 
proletariat  becomes  an  enthusiastic  Malthusian  dis- 
ciple. 

Institutions  do  not  possess  the  potency  they  once 
possessed.  The  form  of  government  has  not  the  same 
significance  it  once  had.  Democratic  America  is  daily 
becoming  more  aristocratic,  while  monarchical  Europe 
is  daily  becoming  more  democratic.  Democracies 
have  their  perils  as  well  as  monarchies.  To  many,  the 
public  is  a  thing  separate  and  apart  from  themselves; 
it  is  a  matter  of  Uttle  consequence  that  their  character 
helps  to  form  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  character  of  the 
nation.  They  understand  but  vaguely  that  they  are 
integral  parts  of  the  community  and  that  whatever 
advances  or  injures  the  community  has  a  Uke  effect  on 
themselves. 


l66  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

In  a  democratic  Republic,  with  a  large  heterogeneous 
population  like  ours,  where  freedom  and  independence 
are  taught  as  cardinal  virtues,  and  where  the  important 
lesson  of  obedience  and  self-control  are  only  half 
learned,  the  rights  of  the  individual  are  likely  to  be 
magnified  and  the  rights  of  the  community  minimized. 
Efforts  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  individuals  in  their 
relations  to  each  other,  and  especially  to  the  com- 
munity, are  construed  as  restraints  on  personal  hberty. 
As  a  consequence,  friction  between  individuals  and 
resistance  to  organized  authority  is  inevitable  and  a 
reckless  disregard  for  the  sanctity  of  human  life 
becomes  a  part  of  the  common  heritage  of  the  people. 
So  true  has  this  already  become  that  we  have  been 
characterized  by  many  foreign  writers  as  a  '^Nation  of 
man  killers.''  Ten  thousand  homicides  and  ten  thous- 
and suicides  annually,  with  the  vast  number  of  deaths 
by  accident,  on  railroads,  in  mines  and  factories,  cer- 
tainly do  constitute  an  appalhng  record  of  violence  and 
crime.  To  this  is  added  a  few  hundred  victims  of  mob 
violence  each  year  with  an  occasional  application  of  the 
torch  to  emphasize  our  sanguinary  propensities. 

Apart  from  the  demoralizing  effect  on  the  minds  of 
the  young,  these  frequent  deaths  by  violence  help  to 
swell  our  already  enormous  list  of  orphans  and  depend- 
ents. A  stream  of  crime  and  pauperism,  which  widens 
as  it  flows,  is  thereby  started,  and  may  not  be  diverted 
from  its  turbulent  course  for  many  generations.     If, 


OUR   UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MOREL   SENTIMENT.    167 

therefore,  the  true  test  of  the  civilization  of  a  people  is 
the  sanctity  placed  on  human  life,  we  would  not  be 
likely  to  draw  the  capital  prize  in  a  contest  with  the 
most  advanced  nations  of  the  earth. 

Another  forcible  illustration  of  the  weakness  of  public 
moral  sentiment,  is  the  difficulty  experienced  in  secur- 
ing convictions  for  crime.  Especially  is  this  true  of 
persons  of  wealth  and  influence.  Unless  it  be  for 
offenses  so  serious  in  their  nature  as  to  shock  the  sensi- 
bilities of  the  community,  and  cause  a  reversal  of  public 
sentiment,  it  is  proverbial  that  persons  with  friends  and 
money  are  seldom  convicted  for  crime.  The  jury  is 
unduly  influenced,  the  trial  is  postponed,  the  case  is 
appealed  and  change  of  venue  taken  until  the  courts 
and  the  people  are  worn  out  and  the  case  is  dis- 
missed, or  compromised  with  a  short  sentence,  and  often 
with  the  tacit  understanding  that  an  early  pardon  will 
be  secured.  While  this  frequent  miscarriage  of  justice, 
through  the  dereliction  of  the  courts,  is  perhaps,  to 
some  extent,  responsible  for  the  spirit  of  mob  violence 
prevalent  in  the  United  States,  yet  everywhere  the  idea 
is  more  or  less  prevalent  that  for  certain  grave  offenses 
the  offender  should  be  summarily  dealt  with  without 
waiting  for  the  intervention  of  the  courts. 

This  spirit  prevails  in  many  communities,  because 
it  is  believed  to  be  the  patriotic  duty  of  the  people  in 
self-defense,  and  as  a  warning  to  others,  to  take  the  law 
into  their  own  hands.     So  deep-seated  is  this  belief  in 


1 68  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

independent  action,  in  some  large  sections  of  the 
country,  that  secret  organizations  are  formed,  ostensi- 
bly for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  law  and  order,  while 
in  reality  they  are  not  infrequently  largely  made  up  of 
lawless  characters  bent  on  spite  and  plunder,  who,  in 
the  end  succeed  in  dominating  the  movements  of  such 
organizations.  Wherever  this  spirit  prevails  in  any  of 
its  forms  conviction  for  that  peculiar  form  of  crime  is 
almost  impossible.  If  guilty  parties  are  brought  to 
trial,  men  entertaining  similar  opinions,  or  belonging 
to  the  same  organization  as  the  accused,  are  selected  as 
jurors;  sworn  officers  of  the  law  plan  the  escape  of 
prisoners,  or,  if  unfriendly  to  them,  secretly  aid  the  mob 
in  their  execution.  The  majesty  of  the  law,  the  sans- 
tity  of  an  oath  and  the  sacredness  of  human  Hfe  are 
given  small  consideration.  Disregard  for  law  and 
order  is  thus  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  rising  gener- 
ation, many  of  whom  become  participants  in  these 
deeds  of  violence  at  an  early  age. 

Another  manifestation  of  this  unhealthy  moral  senti- 
ment is  seen  in  the  readiness  with  which  good  citizens 
sign  petitions  and  write  letters  asking  Chief  Executives 
to  grant  pardons,  even  to  hardened  criminals,  thus 
turning  them  out  on  a  defenseless  community.  Jurors, 
and  sometimes  judges,  yield  to  the  importunities  of 
friends  of  the  prisoner  and  join  in  these  petitions  with- 
out newly  discovered  evidence,  tending  to  estabUsh  his 
innocence,  and  without  any  assurance  of  his  reforma- 


OUR   UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MORAL   SENTIMENT.    169 

tion.  The  constitutional  right  to  petition  does  not 
carry  with  it  the  moral  right  whereby  law-abiding 
citizens  may  sign  petitions  jeopardizing  the  peace  and 
quietude  of  the  community  which  has  rights  as  sacred 
as  those  of  individuals.  Chief  Executives  are  often 
censured  for  granting  pardons  when,  in  reaHty  the 
signatures  presented  them  on  behalf  of  prisoners, 
warrant  the  action  they  take.  In  the  last  analysis  the 
responsibihty  of  pardon  rests  upon  those  giving  their 
names  to  such  petitions. 

Like  these  abuses,  the  right  to  carry  arms  in  time  of 
peace  has  degenerated  into  one  of  our  greatest  evils. 
What  was  once  considered  a  sacred  privilege,  when  the 
early  settlers  of  our  country  were  threatened  by  savage 
foes  from  within  and  oppression  from  without,  is  no 
longer  a  privilege,  since  these  conditions  no  longer  exist. 
Nevertheless,  deadly  weapons  are  carried  by  so  caUed 
good  citizens,  as  a  menace  to  the  community  and  to 
the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  commonwealth. 

In  one  of  the  middle  states  during  the  trial  of  a  young 
man  for  carrying  a  deadly  weapon,  it  is  authentically 
related  that  a  pistol  was  dropped  in  the  jury  box,  evi- 
dently from  the  pocket  of  one  of  the  jurors,  yet  all 
vehemently  denied  its  ownership. 

I  distinctly  remember  a  colleague  in  the  state  legisla- 
ture, afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  whose  chief 
boast  was  his  accuracy  of  aim  with  a  beautiful  ivory- 
handled  pistol  which  he  carried  daily,  even  during  the 


17  O  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

sessions  of  the  law-making  body,  of  which  he  was  an 
honored  member.  Again,  I  was  a  guest  at  the  same 
hotel  with  a  prominent  district  judge  who  was  much 
disconcerted  one  morning  upon  learning  that  his  pistol, 
which  he  had  carried  daily,  in  violation  of  law,  was 
stolen.  A  small,  half-witted  boy,  employed  about  the 
hotel,  was  suspected,  arrested,  tried,  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  serve  two  years  in  the  penitentiary,  all 
before  noon  of  the  same  day,  while  half  a  score  of 
murder  cases  were  delayed,  at  great  cost,  some  of  them 
until  the  next  term  of  court. 

Here,  then,  is  a  great  evil,  the  cause  of  many  crimes 
of  violence,  especially  by  the  young,  countenanced  and 
encouraged  by  jurors,  judges,  and  lawmakers,  in  direct 
defiance  of  the  law  they  are  supposed  to  enforce.  What 
can  be  expected  of  thoughtless  boys,  if  officers  of  the 
law,  to  whom  they  should  look  for  guidance,  make  of 
themselves  walking  arsenals  by  constantly  carrying 
instruments  of  death  on  their  person  in  time  of  peace? 

Again,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  once  held  so  dear  as 
to  be  guaranteed  by  our  organic  law,  has  become  an 
evil  of  no  small  proportions.  The  far-reaching,  dele- 
terious influence  of  certain  low-grade  publications  on 
the  minds  of  the  young  is  incalculable.  Through  the 
accounts  of  daring  deeds  and  thrilling  adventures  of 
evildoers  detailed  in  these  pubHcations  numberless 
young  persons  are  annually  lured  away  from  home  and 
enticed  into  crime.     It  is  a  common  experience,  especi- 


OUR    UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC    MORAL    SENTIMENT.    1 71 

ally  in  the  West,  for  boys,  even  of  tender  years,  to  be 
arrested  in  the  act  of  wrecking  or  holding  up  a  railroad 
train,  just  as  described  in  detail  in  books  found  in  their 
possession.  These  evils  are  materially  aided  by  the 
unhealthy  tone  of  newspapers  that  find  access  to  the 
best  homes. 

In  these  papers,  crime  is  pictured  in  all  its  hideous- 
ness;  wanton  murder,  bold  robberies,  the  tricks  of 
swindlers,  and  the  haunts  of  vice  and  crime  are  depicted 
in  ghastly  detail.  It  is  unnecessary,  therefore,  for 
youths  to  visit  the  dens  of  vice  and  crime  to  be  initiated 
into  the  ways  of  evil  doers;  opportunities  and  tempta- 
tions are  everywhere  present. 

But,  perhaps,  the  most  shocking  exhibition  of  the 
moral  looseness  of  modem  civilization  is  seen  in  the 
alarming  increase  in  our  divorce  proceedings.  While 
our  population  increased  twenty-one  per  cent,  during  the 
closing  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  number 
of  divorces  increased  sixty-six  per  cent.  Nine  hundred 
and  forty-five  thousand  divorces  in  twenty  years  means 
nearly  fifty  thousand  granted  annually,  and  this  in  turn 
means  the  partial  or  complete  breaking  up  of  as  many 
homes,  and  the  greater  or  less  demoralization  of  the 
children  of  these  homes. 

There  is,  then,  evidently  something  radically  wrong 
with  our  education  and  training  when  it  can  be  truth- 
fully said  that  in  no  other  civihzed  country,  Russia 
probably  excepted,  is  human  life  held  so  cheaply  and 


172  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

in  no  other  civilized  country  are  so  many  homes  wrecked 
by  the  spirit  of  unrest. 

However,  every  cloud  has  a  silver  Hning,  and  it  is  a 
hopeful  sign  that  the  evildoers  constitute  but  a  small 
proportion  of  our  population  and  that  the  great  mass 
of  the  common  people,  the  chief  hope  of  the  nation,  is 
culpable  only  to  the  extent  of  a  passive  tolerance  of 
these  evils.  Ours  is  not  a  decadent  nation;  we  are  not 
a  senescent  race;  we  worship  no  fetiches  and  have  no 
fatal  traditions  binding  us  to  an  effete  past.  On  the 
contrary,  we  are  in  the  vigor  of  youth,  as  a  nation  and 
a  race,  while  our  traditions  point  only  to  glorious 
achievements  and  abiding  hope.  With  such  legacies 
bequeathed  from  the  past  there  are  good  reasons  for 
beHeving  that  the  people  will  ultimately  come  into  their 
own  rich  inheritance  and  free  their  once  fair  name  from 
the  stigma  of  lawlessness  and  crime. 

This  optimistic  augury  is  predicted  upon  the  historic 
fact  that  the  American  people  have  been  equal  to  every 
emergency,  have  fulfilled  every  obligation  and  met 
every  expectation.  When  they  once  come  to  realize 
fully,  as  many  of  them  now  reaHze  vaguely,  that  the 
ideals  of  their  fathers  are  being  forsaken  and  their 
precepts  abandoned,  they  will  shake  off  their  lethargy 
and  rise  to  meet  and  discharge  the  obligations  as  men, 
and  citizens  of  a  great  Republic.  Indeed,  there  are 
already  unmistakable  signs  of  a  coming  reaction.  The 
great  moral  waves  which  have  recently  swept  over  our 


OUR    UNHEALTHY   PUBLIC   MORAL    SENTIMENT.    173 

country  have  so  cleared  the  moral  atmosphere  and 
quickened  the  public  conscience  that  even  the  most 
pronounced  pessimist  must  have  faith  in  the  future  of 
his  country. 

We  need  a  new  declaration  of  independence,  not  to 
free  us  from  our  external  but  from  our  internal  enemies 
— ourselves.  We  would  not  have  patriotism,  even  in 
its  narrowest  sense,  to  become  less  vitalizing,  nor  the 
fires  on  liberty's  altar  to  become  less  bright.  Our 
people  are  too  fond  of  pageantry  and  pyrotechnics  for 
liberty's  birth-day  to  be  soon  forgotten,  but  we  would 
have  every  American  citizen  become  a  self  conscious 
ruler,  as  he  is  in  fact  an  uncrowned  king. 

In  monarchical  countries,  where  the  government  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  ruling  classes,  the  responsibility  of  the 
masses  consists  chiefly  in  obedience;  but  as  ours  is  a 
government  not  only  of  and  by  and  for  the  people 
collectively,  but  of  and  by  and  for  each  individual,  the 
relation  between  the  government  and  the  individual 
becomes  a  personal  matter.  Neither  the  fact  that  he 
is  only  one  of  many,  nor  the  fact  that  responsibilities 
become  cumulative  with  increased  wealth  and  power 
relieves  the  humblest  citizen  of  his  personal  obligations 
to  the  government.  Nor  does  the  performance  of  any 
number  of  public  duties,  such  as  voting,  paying  taxes 
and  bearing  arms,  relieve  him  of  other  obligations. 
His  benefits  are  continuous  and  his  obligations  are 
likewise  continuous.     It  is  of  the  utmost  importance, 


174  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

therefore,  that  the  coming  generations  be  thoroughly 
educated  and  trained  in  that  larger  patriotism,  which 
has  for  its  foundation,  the  hierarchy  of  virtues;  up- 
rightness of  character,  honest  dealing,  love  of  country 
and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OUR  PECULIAR  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS. 

Notwithstanding  our  many  natural  advantages 
in  the  way  of  territory,  climate  and  soil,  as  a  nation 
we  have  had  many  disadvantages  with  which  to  contend, 
disadvantages  which  are  peculiar  to  ourselves.  We 
have  had  to  subdue  a  hostile,  savage  race;  emancipate 
and  enfranchise  an  alien,  unassimilable  slave  race,  and 
mingle  a  heterogeneous  population  composed  of  many 
races  and  nationalities  into  one  homogeneous  people. 

On  one  side  we  have  had  an  overcrowded  population 
with  its  multipHcity  of  social  ills,  and  on  the  other  a 
slowly  receding  frontier  with  its  sparsely  settled  and 
crudely  organized  communities.  To  make  the  situa- 
tion more  comphcated  social  progress  has  been  far  from 
uniform  throughout  the  country.  Various  geographic, 
economic,  social  and  racial  conditions  have  caused 
numerous  social  eddies  to  linger  long  in  the  interior 
after  the  floodtide  of  civiHzation  had  swept  by  on  its 
westward  march,  and  many  unmistakable  evidences 
of  pioneer  driftwood  are  still  plainly  visible  at  different 
points  along  the  irregular  line  of  this  receding  frontier. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  rather  strange  than  otherwise  if 

175 


176  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

some  traces  of  the  many  brave  and  heroic  spirits  who 
formed  the  vanguard  of  this  fierce  struggle  for  advanc- 
ing Anglo-Saxon  expansion  and  civiHzation  were  not 
still  to  be  found,  at  least  along  the  main  line  of  travel. 

With  no  uniformity  either  in  the  enactment  or  the 
administration  of  the  laws,  and,  as  is  characteristic  of  a 
democracy,  with  every  man  a  lawyer  and  a  judge,  there 
is  little  wonder  that  different  communities  have  differ- 
ent standards  of  right,  that  what  is  considered  a  crime  in 
one  community  is  not  always  so  considered  in  another, 
and  that  the  laws  are  more  rigidly  enforced  in  some 
localities  than  in  others.  Thus  drunkenness,  disor- 
derly conduct,  buglary  and  vagrancy  are  more  frequent 
in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States;  violations  of  the 
Internal  Revenue  Law,  carrying  deadly  weapons  and 
ofifenses  against  the  person  in  the  Southern  States; 
while  assaults  with  weapons  and  highway  robbery  are 
specially  prevalent  both  in  the  Western  and  South- 
western States.  But  by  far  the  most  serious  social 
problems  with  which  we  now  have  to  contend  are  the 
foreign,  the  colored  and  the  slum  populations. 

Since  we  are  all  immigrants  or  the  descendants  of 
immigrants,  it  appears  strange,  and  at  first  thought 
perhaps  absurd,  for  us  now  to  raise  the  question  of  the 
influence  exerted  on  the  crime  of  the  country  by  our 
foreign-bom  population.  But  like  natives,  there  are 
desirable  and  undesirable  foreigners,  some  adding  to 
our  material  and  moral  wealth  and  others  detracting 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  177 

therefrom;  however,  statistics  show  that  in  the  latter 
foreigners  by  far  surpass  the  natives. 

While  persons  of  foreign  birth  formed  less  than 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  total  white  population  in  1900, 
in  1904  more  than  twenty- three  per  cent,  of  the  white 
prisoners,  thirty-four  per  cent,  of  the  white  insane,  and 
forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  white  paupers  were  of 
foreign  birth,  and  of  the  122,000  white  prisoners  com- 
mitted to  our  prisons  during  the  year  1904,  more  than 
35,000  were  foreign  born.  In  that  year  in  nearly  every 
part  of  the  United  States  the  foreign-born  contributed 
decidedly  more  than  their  proportion  to  the  minor 
offenders,  but  slightly  less  than  their  proportion  to  the 
major  offenders,  and  in  all  the  Northern  States  except 
New  York,  the  percentage  of  native  white  of  foreign- 
born  parentage  among  the  native  white  prisoners  was 
greatly  in  excess  of  the  percentage  of  native  white  of 
foreign-born  parentage  in  the  total  population.  Those 
of  foreign  birth  between  eleven  and  nineteen  years  of 
age  formed  only  six  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  of 
that  age  in  1900,  but  more  than  eleven  per  cent,  of  the 
juvenile  delinquents  of  similar  ages  committed  to  our 
reformatory  and  industrial  schools  during  the  year  1904 
were  of  foreign  birth. 

The  most  conspicuous  instances  of  the  criminality  of 
our  foreign-born  population  are  seen  in  the  vices  and 
crimes  of  overcrowded  slum  districts  in  large  cities; 
in  the  violence  and  bloodshed  attending  strikes  and 


178  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

riots,  and  in  assassinations  by  members  of  the  black- 
hand  and  other  anarchistic  organizations.  Indeed, 
secret  societies  having  for  their  object  assassination 
for  revenge,  extortion,  and  the  extermination  of  offi- 
cials as  such,  are  almost  wholly  the  product  of  foreign 
soil.  However  hopeful  one  may  be,  there  is  no  denying 
the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  our  more  recent 
immigrants  are  of  the  most  degraded  and  lawless  class- 
es of  the  Old  World.  In  common  with  confirmed 
criminals  everywhere  they  look  upon  organized  society 
as  their  enemy.  To  them  courts  of  justice  are  but 
shams  for  the  protection  of  the  rich  and  the  persecution 
of  the  poor;  rehgion  is  but  a  cloak  for  hypocrisy,  purity 
the  merest  pretense,  and  all  forms  of  government  they 
look  upon  as  despotic,  and  all  officers  as  tyrants. 

One  significant  fact  in  this  connection  is  that  in 
every  geographical  division  of  the  United  States,  except 
the  South  Central,  the  foreign-born  formed  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  prisoners  committed  during  the  year 
1904  than  of  those  enumerated  in  the  prisons  on  the 
thirtieth  day  of  June  of  that  year. 

From  the  vast  hordes  coming  to  our  shores  annually, 
to  assimilate  such  as  are  susceptible  of  absorption  and 
to  repress  those  that  are  not,  is  a  tremendous  strain 
upon  our  resources.  They  not  only  increase  competi- 
tion, intensify  labor  troubles,  and  widen  the  breach 
between  capital  and  labor,  but  they  help  to  fill  our 
prisons,   almshouses  and  insane   asylums.     Some   of 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  179 

our  best  and  most  conservative  thinkers  sincerely  be- 
lieve that  the  greatest  danger  to  our  republic  and  to 
free  government  is  the  not  remote  possibility  of  a 
deadly  conflict  between  capital  and  labor.  If  this  be 
true  what  could  tend  more  to  hasten  that  conflict  than 
to  flood  the  labor  market  with  cheap  laborers  who  have 
no  interest  in  our  government  or  institutions  except 
the  subsistance  afforded  under  their  protection.  If 
the  enemies  of  law  and  order  were  deliberately  to  set 
about  arraying  the  poor  against  the  rich  and  the  masses 
against  the  classes,  certainly  no  better  scheme  could 
be  devised  than  that  of  reducing  wages,  turning  men 
out  of  employment,  and  women  and  children  out  of 
their  homes.  However  effective  a  protective  tariff 
may  have  been  in  the  past  in  keeping  up  the  price  of 
labor,  when  free  homesteads  are  exhausted  and  the 
supply  of  laborers  exceeds  the  demand,  the  best  pro- 
tection to  wages  will  be  the  reduction  in  the  number  of 
pauper  laborers  from  foreign  lands. 

When  we  think  of  the  inestimable  wealth  of  brawn 
and  heart  and  brain,  the  Teutonic,  Scandinavian, 
Scotch,  Irish,  and  other  like  races  have  brought  to  us, 
we  are  hkely  to  forget  the  indescribable  burden  of 
incompetency,  profligacy  and  criminality  that  other 
less  worthy  races  have  imposed  upon  us.  And  when 
we  think  of  the  splendid  new  type  of  American  citizens 
which  is  being  developed  through  the  minghng  of  these 
worthy  races  under  our  congenial  skies  and  democratic 


l8o  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

institution,  we  are  likely  to  forget  the  wretched,  de- 
graded criminal  type  which  is  being  developed  through 
the  mingling  of  the  other  races  in  our  slums  and  dens 
of  vice.  In  our  enthusiastic  admiration  of  the  virtues 
of  the  one  we  forget  the  vices  of  the  other.  Blind 
optimism  is  often  more  disastrous  than  a  reasonable 
degree  of  skepticism. 

When  our  vast  pubhc  domains  were  open  to  free  home- 
stead entry  thousands  were  annually  lured  westward, 
thus  tending  to  deplete  the  over  congested  centers  of 
population  and  equaUzing'^labor  and  wages.  But  now 
that  these  domains  are  practically  exhausted  each  new- 
comer, however  well  disposed,  increases  competition 
and  intensifies  labor  troubles.  Whatever  reduction 
there  may  be  in  the  future  in  the  number  of  immigrants, 
owing  to  a  continued  decrease  in  the  opportunities  for 
a  Uvelihood,  it  is  Hable  to  be  at  the  expense  of  the  more 
desirable  element.  Moreover,  just  to  the  extent  that 
the  opportunities  for  employment  and  the  chances  of 
assimilation  are  decreased,  just  to  that  extent  are  the 
chances  increased  that  the  future  immigrant  will 
become  a  dependent  or  a  criminal  in  the  centers  of 
population. 

*^  Drawn  first  from  the  higher  and  more  intelligent 
types  of  northwestern  Europe,  our  immigration  has 
degenerated  constantly  to  the  poorest  breeds  of  .the 
eastern  and  southern  sections  of  the  continent.  ^  The 
most  incompetent  and  vicious  settle  down  in  our  great 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  l8l 

cities;  and  there  an  army  of  political  criminals — 
trained  by  half  a  century  of  political  crime,  exploit  and 
corrupt  them,  and  with  them  our  whole  civilization." 

As  a  social  problem  however,  our  foreign  population 
with  all  its  multiform  perplexities  pales  into  insignifi- 
cance when  compared  with  our  colored  population, 
for  should  the  exigencies  of  the  case  ever  demand  such 
drastic  measures  against  undesirable  immigrants,  we 
have  an  effective  remedy  in  their  exclusion  and  de- 
portation; but  our  colored  people  are,  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  already  here,  with  nature's  barrier 
against  the  possibility  of  amalgamation  and  assimila- 
tion. They  are,  as  it  were,  a  nation  within  a  nation, 
since  they  are  socially  and  politically  separate  and  dis- 
tinct from  the  white  race.  As  Mr.  Bryce  well  says, 
they  occupy  a  peculiar  place  in  the  history  of  the  races. 
*  To  be  taken  up  suddenly  as  savages  and  transported 
by  force  to  a  distant  continent  and  there  placed  under 
the  lash  of  merciless  task  masters  for  centuries  and  then 
as  suddenly  emancipated  and  clothed  with  all  the 
habiliments  of  citizenship,  is  certainly  unparalleled  in 
the  history  of  races. ' 

Any  effort,  therefore,  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  as  to 
the  comparative  criminality  of  the  white  and  colored 
races  by  comparing  the  percentage  of  prisoners  of  each 
is  obviously  misleading.  The  social  conditions  and 
material  advantages  of  the  two  races  are  so  dissimilar 
that  no  such  comparison  can  be  made  without  definite 


1 82  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

allowance  for  these  differences.  But  even  this  would 
be  putting  a  known  against  an  unknown  quantity;  it 
would  be  putting  numbers  against  conditions,  a  quan- 
tity in  life's  equation  which  cannot  be  even  hypoth- 
ecated unless  it  be  given  the  highest  factor  in  the 
calculation.  It  is  manifestly  unjust,  therefore,  to 
attempt  a  comparison  by  placing  figures  by  the  side 
of  ages  of  savagery,  and  centuries  of  abject  servitude 
without  ethical  or  reHgious  training,  and  without  ade- 
quate knowledge  of  economic  values,  or  the  sanctity 
of  human  life.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is  that, 
wherever  conditions  approach  an  equality,  there  is 
little  tangible  evidence  of  greater  inherent,  incurable 
criminahty  in  the  colored  race.  Naturally  docile, 
emotional  and  of  a  religious  temperament,  their  chief 
racial  faults  are  weakness,  lack  of  will  and  foresight. 
Psychologically  these  may  be  potential,  but  they 
are  not  necessarily  kinetic  criminal  characteristics. 
Kjiowing  these  individual  characteristics  however  and 
the  adverse  social  forces  with  which  the  colored  race 
everywhere  has  to  contend,  the  result  can  be  calculated 
with  almost  mathematical  certainty.  While  this  race 
contributes  only  twelve  per  cent,  to  the  total  population 
and  sixteen  per  cent,  to  the  prison  population,  the 
disparity  is  no  greater  than  the  disproportion  in  the 
social  position,  wealth,  environment,  and  opportunities 
of  the  two  races.  If  colored  children  take  to  crime  at 
an  earlier  age  than  white  children,  which  is  everywhere 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  183 

shown,  it  is  more  an  exemplification  of  the  all-powerful 
influence  of  environment  than  of  hereditary  tendencies. 
Nowhere  do  improved  social  conditions  show  to  better 
advantage  than  in  the  colored  race.  This  is  forcibly 
illustrated  by  their  increased  regard  for  the  personal 
and  property  rights  of  others  as  they  themselves  begin 
to  accumulate  property  and  rise  in  the  social  scale. 
Without  homes,  save  their  poorest  semblance,  without 
family  influence  or  ancestral  pride,  it  is  strange  rather 
than  otherwise  that  the  vast  majority  of  them  struggle 
through  life  without  even  being  apprehended  for  crime. 
If  the  past  history  of  the  colored  race  has  been  unique, 
its  future  as  seen  by  the  most  hopeful  point  of  view  is 
indeed  pathetic. 

While  thousands  of  them  have  made  wonderful  pro- 
gress during  the  past  few  years,  this  is  evidently  the 
result  of  fortuitous  circumstances  and  due  to  individual 
initiative  rather  than  to  any  special  racial  uplift,  for 
the  great  mass  of  them  still  remain  in  habits  and 
thoughts  largely  what  they  were  centuries  ago.  Wher- 
ever found  in  any  considerable  numbers,  both  in  the 
border  states  and  in  the  farthest  South,  they  constitute 
the  lowest  social  stratum  and  consequently  contribute 
an  undue  proportion  to  the  criminals  of  the  country. 
Of  the  149,649  prisoners  committed  to  our  prisons 
during  the  year  1904,  24,598  were  colored.  Of  the 
white  prisoners  sixty-seven  per  cent,  were  classed  as 
major  offenders  against  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  the 


l84  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

colored  prisoners.  Among  the  males  nearly  sixteen 
per  cent,  were  colored,  while  amoung  the  females  about 
twenty-two  per  cent,  were  colored.  More  than  seventy 
per  cent,  of  the  colored  prisoners  were  under  thirty 
years  of  age,  while  among  the  white  prisoners  slightly 
less  than  forty  per  cent,  were  under  thirty  years  of  age. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  there  are  comparatively  few 
reformatory  institutions  in  the  South  for  juvenile 
offenders,  especially  for  negroes,  where  the  vast  major- 
ity of  colored  children  is  to  be  found,  it  is  exceedingly 
difficult  to  secure  a  statistical  comparison  of  the  relative 
criminality  of  white  and  colored  children;  yet  wherever 
proper  institutions  are  found  the  proportion  of  colored 
over  white  juvenile  offenders  is  very  marked.  The 
significance  of  these  figures,  however,  lies  not  alone  in 
the  fact  that  in  the  aggregate  the  proportion  of  colored 
prisoners  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  white,  but 
in  the  fact  that  the  character  of  offenses  committed  by 
the  colored  prisoner  is  much  graver;  that  colored 
adults  take  to  crime  at  a  much  earlier  age  than  do 
white  persons;  that  colored  children  are  more  pre- 
cocious in  crime,  and  above  all  that  among  the  female 
prisoners  the  number  of  colored  is  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  number  of  white.  The  further  significance  of 
these  facts  is  that  they  point  to  the  home  as  the  chief 
source  of  trouble  among  the  colored  population,  and 
it  is  the  difficulty  of  reaching  these  homes  that  renders 
the  outlook  so  gloomy. 


OUR  PECULIAR  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS.       185 

Theoretically,  members  of  the  colored  race  are  free 
to  aspire  to  the  highest  positions  of  honor  and  trust, 
but  in  reality  they  are  hedged  about  by  innumerable 
restrictions.  By  the  very  irony  of  fate  they  have  been 
placed  in  the  midst  of  an  arrogant,  dominating  race 
thousands  of  years  in  advance  of  them  in  mental  and 
moral  training;  a  race  which  boasts  of  its  superiority 
and  tolerates  no  amalgamation  or  assimilation  with 
inferior  races.  As  a  consequence  the  social  and  po- 
litical sphere  of  the  negro  is  limited  to  his  own  small 
circle,  and  his  freedom  is  only  nominal.  If  they  qualify 
as  thousands  of  them  are  doing,  for  the  higher  profes- 
sions, or  for  the  more  remunerative  trades  or  occupa- 
tions, their  employment  is  likewise  limited  almost 
entirely  to  their  own  race.  Only  in  the  lower,  most 
degrading  and  least  remunerative  class  of  labor  can 
they  compete  with  the  white  race.  This  racial  an- 
tipathy, however,  does  not  cease  with  the  social,  po- 
litical and  industrial  rights  of  the  negro  but  extends  to 
a  lesser  degree  to  his  civil  and  personal  rights  as  well. 
Under  our  form  of  government  a  prisoner  is  usually 
held  to  be  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty,  but  in  the 
case  of  the  negro  this  is,  in  a  measure,  reversed.  At 
least,  it  is  admitted  that  it  is  much  less  difficult,  even 
with  the  same  evidence,  to  convict  a  negro  than  it  is  to 
convict  a  white  man.  Then,  few  white  men  have  ever 
been  convicted,  and  perhaps  none  ever  executed  for 
kiUing  a  negro.     This  indifference,  not  to  say  utter 


l86  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

contempt,  for  the  life  of  members  of  the  colored  race 
has  had  a  most  demorahzing  influence  on  the  white 
race,  especially  in  certain  sections  of  the  country,  for 
wherever  lynchings  and  mob  violence  are  frequent 
there  human  life,  both  white  and  black,  is  held  at  a 
discount.  In  sowing  the  wind  such  communities 
invariably  reap  the  whirlwind.  The  youth  of  both 
races  grow  up  in  total  disregard  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
lives,  not  only  of  members  of  the  other,  but  of  their 
own  race  as  well. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  only  the  dark  side  of  a  very 
dark  subject,  but  it  is  sometimes  well  to  tell  the  truth 
even  if  it  is  a  little  disagreeable.  It  would  be  vastly 
pleasanter  to  talk  of  Booker  Washington  and  his  work 
at  Tuskegee;  of  the  milHons  of  money  annually  spent 
for  the  education  and  elevation  of  the  race;  of  the 
wonderful  progress  many  of  them  have  made  and  the 
enormous  sums  of  money  they  have  accumulated;  yet 
the  fact  would  remain  that  millions  of  them  are  still  in 
abject  poverty  and  ignorance,  crushed  between  the 
upper  and  nether  millstones  of  racial  incompetency  and 
racial  antipathy.  With  no  promised  land  to  which  to 
journey  and  no  Moses  to  lead  them  out  of  their  Egyp- 
tain  darkness,  whatever  racial  uplift  may  be  theirs  in 
the  future  they  must  continue  to  make  bricks  without 
straw,  and  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
for  the  white  race. 

Not  the  least  discouraging  feature  of  the  negro  and 


OUR  PECULIAR  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS.       187 

immigration  question  is  their  tendency  to  gravitate 
toward  the  city,  where  they  constitute  a  very  large 
portion  of  our  slum  population.  While  no  country  can 
claim  a  monopoly  on  slums  which  have  been  the  city's 
curse  from  earhest  times  our  nation  seems  to  have  been 
percuHarly  unfortunate  in  its  effort  to  cope  with  its 
attendant  problems.  The  tremendous  increase  in  the 
population  of  many  of  our  large  cities  has  been  so 
unprecedented  and  our  rural  communities  have  so 
rapidly  been  transformed  into  city  areas  that  our  people 
have  not  been  prepared  to  meet  the  situation,  much 
less  to  master  it.  To  accommodate  these  vast  city 
accessions  crudely  constructed  houses  have  often  been 
hurriedly  joined  one  to  another,  story  added  to  story, 
small  rooms  subdivided  into  still  smaller  ones  until,  in 
many  places,  whole  city  blocks  have  become  veritable 
human  beehives  containing  as  many  as  one,  two,  and 
sometimes  three  thousand  persons  to  the  square  acre. 
Much  of  this  deplorable  overcrowding  occurred  before 
physicians  and  health  officers  were  fully  aware  of  the 
vital  importance  of  fresh  air  and  sunshine  to  health  and 
happiness,  and  before  so  much  was  learned  of  the  far 
reaching  degradation  which  comes  from  crowding 
large  numbers  of  human  beings  of  all  ages,  both  sexes, 
and  all  degrees  of  criminaUty  into  small  apartments. 
But  even  when  these  facts  began  to  dawn  upon  human- 
itarians, greedy  landlords  often  resisted  every  effort  at 
reform.    They  bribed  City  Councils,  blocked  State 


l88  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

Legislation  and  evaded  orders  of  Courts  and  Sanitary 
Commissions,  until  the  death  rate  in  many  tenement 
districts  doubled  and  even  trebled  that  of  other  por- 
tions of  the  same  cities,  and  until  crime  became  so 
common  that  life  was  unsafe  even  in  broad  daylight. 
When  philanthropists,  health  officers  and  poHcemen  at 
last  realized  that  some  action  must  be  taken  and  began 
an  investigation  of  conditions  in  these  tenement  dis- 
tricts, they  found  many  of  them  veritable  hotbeds  of 
disease  and  crime,  where  as  many  as  fifteen  and  some- 
times twenty  families  containing  from  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  were  frequently  crowded 
together  in  one  building  constructed  on  a  twenty-five 
by  one  hundred  foot  lot.  Disease  and  crime  lurked  in 
every  nook  and  corner.  Dark,  damp  halls,  dilapidated 
stairways,  unlighted  and  badly  ventilated  rooms 
crowded  with  poorly  clad,  hungry,  cadaverous-looking 
human  beings  greeted  them  everywhere.  ^^Infant 
slaughter-houses,  dens  of  death  where  the  sunshine 
never  enters,''  is  the  way  one  commission  spoke  of 
these  dismal  habitations.  Twenty  out  of  every  one 
hundred  children  born  there  died  at  an  early  age.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  civic  leagues,  reform  clubs 
and  missionary  associations  have  marshalled  their 
forces  against  these  evils,  and  in  some  cities  conditions 
have  changed  and  great  good  has  been  accomplished, 
playgrounds,  parks,   and  schoolhouses  adorning  the 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  1 89 

site  of  the  one  time  disease  and  crime  breeding  dis- 
tricts. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  done  this  is  what 
a  newspaper  correspondent  had  to  say  of  some  of  these 
places  in  New  York  as  late  as  1901 : 

'*  Imagine,  if  you  can,  a  section  of  the  city  territory — where 
the  education  of  the  infant  begins  with  the  knowledge  of  prosti- 
tution and  the  training  of  little  girls  is  the  training  in  the  arts  of 
Phryne;  where  American  girls  brought  up  with  the  refinements 
of  the  American  homes  are  imported  from  small  towns — and 
kept,  as  virtually  prisoners  as  if  they  were  locked  behind  jail 
bars,  until  they  have  lost  all  semblance  of  womanhood;  where 
small  boys  are  taught  to  solicit  for  the  women  of  disorderly 
houses;  where  there  is  an  organized  society  of  young  men  whose 
sole  business  in  life  is  to  corrupt  young  girls  and  turn  them  over 
to  bawdy  houses;  where  it  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception, 
that  murder,  rape,  robbery  and  theft  go  unpunished,  in  short, 
where  the  premium  of  the  most  awful  forms  of  vice  is  the  profit 
of  the  politician." 

A  young  man,  himself  of  the  slums,  said  at  a  settle- 
ment meeting  in  which  he  had  become  interested: 

"Now  you  go  to  your  quiet  homes  in  a  decent  street  where  no 
harm  comes  to  you  or  your  wife  or  children  in  the  night,  for  it  is 
their  home.  And  we — we  go  with  our  high  resolves,  the  noble 
ambitions  you  have  stirred,  to  our  tenements  where  evil  lurks 
in  the  darkness  at  every  step,  where  innocence  is  murdered  in 
babyhood,  where  mothers  moan  the  birth  of  a  daughter  as  the 
last  misfortune,  where  virtue  is  sold  into  a  worse  slavery  than 
ever  our  fathers  knew,  and  our  sisters  betrayed  by  paid  pander- 


19 o  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

ers;  where  the  name  of  home  is  a  bitter  mockery,  for  alas,  we 
have  none." 

"These  dark  and  deadly  dens  in  which  the  family 
ideal  was  tortured  to  death  and  character  smothered; 
in  which  children  were  damned,  rather  than  born  into 
the  world";  these  are  the  highways  that  lead  to  the 
ruin  of  the  youth  of  the  land;  these  are  the  recruiting 
stations  for  our  prisons  and  reformatories.  Magistrate 
Joseph  E.  Corregan  of  New  York  City  issued  the  fol- 
lowing public  statement,  March  22,  191 1: 

**  Criminals  from  all  over  the  country  have  come  to  New  York 
in  droves  and  ply  their  avocation  here  in  safety;  the  more  seri- 
ous crimes,  such  as  stabbings,  gang  feuds,  highway  robberies, 
burglaries,  assaults  and  larcenies,  from  the  person,  grow  in 
number,  undetected  and  unpunished." 

But  we  deceive  ourselves  when  we  think  that  these 
conditions  apply  only  to  large  cities  where  poverty 
stricken  immigrants  constitute  the  major  portion  of 
the  slum  population,  when,  in  truth,  they  apply  with 
equal  force  to  every  municipality  large  enough  to  be 
dignified  with  the  name  of  city.  The  difference  is  only 
one  of  degree,  not  of  kind.  All  have  their  centers  of 
pauperism  and  crime. 

Recently  while  stopping  for  part  of  a  day  in  a  small 
city  of  less  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  I  asked 
at  police  headquarters  for  a  guide  to  take  me  through 
the  lower  part  of  the  city.     Before  we  had  passed  out  of 


OUR   PECULIAR    SOCIAL   PROBLEMS.  19 1 

what  appeared  to  be  the  respectable  portion  of  the  city 
I  was  horrified  at  the  spectacle  that  confronted  us. 
Three  emaciated,  haggard  drug  and  whiskey  fiends  in 
female  form  begged  pitiously  for  a  few  pennies  with 
which  to  buy  beer  or  drugs.  A  little  farther  on  we  saw 
small  and  grown  up  boys  and  girls  as  depraved  as  I  had 
ever  seen  in  ''HelFs  half  acre"  or  the  "Devil's  Kit- 
chen," in  large  cities. 

The  forces  of  corruption  may  not  always  be  so  well 
organized  as  is  Tammany  or  as  in  Pittsburg,  St.  Louis 
or  San  Francisco;  the  corrupting  influences  may  not 
always  reach  the  highest  official  circles,  but  every- 
where these  forces  and  influences  are  to  be  contended 
with.  Try,  therefore,  as  we  may,  we  can  no  more 
escape  responsibility  for  the  murder  of  the  innocence 
and  the  innocent  in  our  slums,  through  oflicial  muni- 
cipal misrule,  than  we  can  escape  responsibility  for  the 
evil  wrought  by  strong  drink  through  our  tolerance  of 
the  liquor  trafl&c.  Given  these  three  the  slums,  intox- 
icating liquors  and  official  municipal  corruption,  and 
we  have  a  combination  for  evil  so  powerful,  so  far 
reaching  and  so  nearly  perfect  that  his  satanic  majesty 
would  hesitate  before  attempting  to  improve  upon  it. 
Since  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
however,  is  the  curse  of  nearly  all  civilized  countries, 
it  cannot  be  said  to  be  pecuHarly  an  American  evil, 
yet  some  of  its  most  aggravating  features  have  assumed 
quite  striking  American  characteristics.     Men  imbued 


192  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

witH  the  American  idea  of  moneymaking,  plus  a  total 
disregard  for  consequences,  have  taken  advantage  of 
our  democratic  tendency  of  the  least  possible  inter- 
ference with  individual  liberty  and  have  pushed  their 
nefarious  traffic  to  the  utmost  limits  of  Christian  for- 
bearance. In  some  communities  they  are  unceasing 
in  their  efforts  to  make  their  so-called  gilded  dens  of 
vice  attractive  to  the  public,  especially  to  the  young 
and  in  others  they  unblushingly  enter,  boldly  and 
defiantly,  into  full  partnership  with  the  most  positive 
forces  of  crime  and  immorality.  The  truth  of  the 
adage  that  the  abuse  of  a  privilege  or  power  will  ulti- 
mately bring  a  day  of  reckoning,  and  the  greater  the 
abuse  the  sooner  and  more  certain  the  reckoning,  has 
been  forcibly  exemplified  in  the  recent  great  awakening 
in  many  of  our  states  to  the  realization  of  the  magni- 
tude of  the  evil  of  the  whisky  traffic. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PUNISHMENT  AS  A  DETERRENT  FROM  CRIME. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  race,  members  of  the 
family  or  tribe  of  a  murdered  man  had  not  only  the 
right,  but  under  the  law  of  retaliation  it  was  recognized 
as  their  moral  duty,  to  pursue  the  slayer  to  his  death; 
and  among  some  tribes  it  was  even  held  that,  should 
the  slayer  chance  to  make  his  escape,  other  members  of 
the  family  or  tribe  should  pay  the  penalty.  Later  in 
the  course  of  social  evolution,  when  the  family  and 
tribe  became  merged  into  the  state  and  nation,  the 
government  assumed  the  right  of  punishing  offenders, 
with  but  little  modification  of  the  barbarous  rules 
which  for  centuries  had  governed  the  family  and  tribe. 
Thus  the  death  penalty  has  been  inflicted  from  the 
earliest  times  for  almost  every  conceivable  offense,  and 
by  almost  every  conceivable  cruel  and  inhuman  method 
which  would  prolong  or  intensify  the  humiliation  and 
suffering  of  the  victim.  Not  longer  than  a  hundred 
years  ago  burning  as  a  means  of  punishment  was  still 
on  the  statute  books  of  France,  and  England  had  more 
than  two  hundred  statutory  offenses  for  which  capital 
pimishment  might  be  appHed;  and  even  now  some  of 

193 


194  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

our  own  states  have  as  many  as  ten  capital  offenses  on 
their  statute  books.  So,  today  we  deceive  ourselves 
most  wofuUy  if  we  think  punishment  is  wholly  for 
repression  in  the  interest  of  society.  Could  our  con- 
sciences be  tested,  as  the  temperature  of  our  bodies 
can  be  tested,  I  fear  many  of  us  would  find  within  their 
depths  the  call  of  the  tiger,  the  thirst  of  the  savage  for 
blood  still  struggUng  with  our  better,  more  civilized 
natures. 

Why  was  it  when  executions  were  public,  as  they 
were  in  many  of  our  states  until  quite  recently,  that 
men  and  women  gathered  by  hundreds  and  even 
thousands  to  witness  the  sickening,  horrifying  specta- 
cle? Was  it  to  lend  their  influence  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  law,  or  was  it,  as  has  been  said,  out  of  mere  idle 
curiosity?  It  was  for  neither.  It  was  the  desire  to  see 
a  man  killed — strangled  to  death;  to  see  him  writhe 
and  twitch,  and  then  swing  limp  and  lifeless  in  the  air. 
Does  any  one  suppose  that  the  infuriated  mob  or  armed 
vendetta  think  of  upholding  the  majesty  of  the  law? 
No.  They  are  on  murder  bent.  Vengeance  is  in  their 
hearts.  Nothing  but  blood  will  satisfy  them.  The 
sooner,  therefore,  that  we  come  to  realize  the  awful 
truth,  that  we  are  a  bloodthirsty,  man-kiUing  people, 
the  sooner  shall  we  be  able  to  blot  out  this  national 
disgrace. 

Our  indifference  to  the  miscarriage  of  justice  is 
strikingly  illustrated  in  the  almost  unlimited  oppor- 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM    CRIME     195 

tunities  afforded  criminals  to  escape  punishment 
through  legal  technicalities,  judicial  quibbhng  and 
executive  clemency.  The  result  is  that  homicides  have 
increased  in  the  United  States  from  1266,  in  1881,  to 
8,752  in  1908,  until  now  the  annual  average  reaches 
almost  to  the  ten  thousand  mark.  During  the  fifteen 
years  from  1894  to  1909,  according  to  the  Chicago  Trib- 
une, there  were  133,192  homicides  in  the  United  States, 
while  the  records  of  the  Civil  War  show  that  the  entire 
number  of  men  in  the  Union  Army  that  was  killed  or 
died  of  wounds  during  that  sanguinary  conflict  was 
only  110,090,  and  in  the  Confederate  Army  the  number 
that  was  killed  or  died  of  wounds  was  73,278. 

The  latest  available  statistics  (1905)  show  that,  in 
round  numbers,  there  are  about  fourteen  homicides  per 
million  inhabitants  in  Japan;  twelve  per  million  in 
Canada;  eight  per  million  in  England  and  Wales;  six 
per  milUon  in  Germany  (1899);  and  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  per  million  in  the  United  States.  Thus  the 
northwestern  countries  of  Europe  would  require  about 
a  billion  and  Canada  a  billion  and  a  quarter  inhabitants 
to  bring  the  number  of  their  murders  up  to  that  of  the 
United  States  with  its  ninety  millions  of  people.  It  is 
said  that  Chicago  murders  six  times  as  many  as  London 
and  eight  times  as  many  as  Paris.  The  conclusion, 
therefore,  is  inevitable  that  homicides  are  rare  or  fre- 
quent, in  any  community,  just  in  proportion  to  the 
degree  of  sanctity  placed  on  human  life  by  the  people 


196  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

of  that  community.  So,  after  all,  the  failure  of  the 
courts  to  convict  criminals  is  not  so  much  the  cause  of 
crime  as  has  been  claimed,  as  it  is  an  evidence  of  an 
unhealthy  public  moral  sentiment  which  is  the  real 
source  of  all  crime. 

An  infectious  disease  does  not  spread  because  of  a 
failure  of  physicians  to  cure  those  stricken  with  the 
disease,  but  because  of  existing  unsanitary  conditions, 
and  these  conditions  exist  because  public  sentiment  is 
not  sufficiently  aroused  on  the  subject.  So  with  crime; 
if  public  moral  sentiment  were  sufficiently  strong  there 
would  be  no  disease  and  crime  breeding  slums,  no 
polluted  centers  of  crime,  no  sources  of  moral  infection, 
and  crime  would  be  reduced  to  a  minimima. 

The  argument  that  the  increase  of  homicides  is  due 
to  the  decrease  of  capital  punishment  is  answered  most 
conclusively  by  the  fact  that  the  increase  of  misde- 
meanors and  the  lighter  forms  of  crime  for  which 
capital  punishment  is  not  inflicted  has  been  propor- 
tionally greater  than  the  increase  of  capital  offenses, 
and  that  there  is  no  appreciable  increase  of  capital 
offenses  in  states  where  capital  punishment  has  been 
abandoned  over  those  states  where  it  is  still  retained. 
Indeed,  statistics  show  that  capital  offenses  are  more 
frequent  in  states  where  the  number  of  executions  is 
the  greatest.  This  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  the 
record  of  murders  in  Kansas,  Maine,  Michigan,  Rhode 
Island  and  Wisconsin  where  capital  punishment  has 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM   CRIME.    197 

been  abandoned,  with  that  of  Kentucky,  Georgia, 
Mississippi,  Texas  and  other  states  where  it  is  still 
inflicted.  Likewise,  equally  conclusive  is  the  com- 
parison of  the  criminal  statistics  in  the  fifteen  cantons 
in  Switzerland  where  the  death  penalty  has  been 
abandoned,  with  the  seven  other  cantons  where  it  is 
still  retained.  Until  a  few  years  ago  the  death  penalty 
had  not  been  inflicted  in  Tuscany  for  more  than  a 
century,  and  yet  it  was,  at  that  time,  one  of  the  Italian 
compartments  or  provinces  with  the  lowest  record  of 
serious  offenses. 

The  stock  argument,  too,  that  mob  violence  is  the 
result  of  a  failure  of  the  courts  to  inflict  the  death 
penalty  is  overwhelmingly  refuted  by  the  statistics 
which  show  that  lynchings  also  are  much  less  frequent 
in  those  states  where  capital  punishment  has  been 
abolished  or  is  seldom  resorted  to,  than  in  those  states 
where  executions  are  the  most  frequent.  During  the 
fifteen  years  from  1891  to  1906  there  were  1,090 
executions  and  1,747  lynchings  in  twelve  states  having 
less  than  one-third  of  the  entire  population  of  the 
United  States,  against  8io  executions  and  493  lynchings 
in  the  remaining  states  and  territories. 

The  amount  of  crime  in  any  community,  therefore, 
depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  degree  of  criminal 
saturation,  either  of  the  whole  or  of  some  special  strata 
of  the  social  organism,  and  people  everywhere  are 
largely  governed  in  their  thoughts  and  actions  by  this 
saturation. 


198  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

In  highly-civilized  communities  crime  is  almost 
wholly  confined  to  the  lower  social  strata,  and  people 
occupying  different  social  positions  are  often  as  widely 
separated  in  their  thoughts,  and  in  the  conception  of 
their  respective  duties  and  responsibilities,  as  if  they 
belonged  to  different  races  and  lived  on  different  con- 
tinents. From  the  very  nature  of  their  surroundings 
and  opportunities  the  mental  and  moral  perception  of 
those  occupying  the  lower  planes  of  social  Hfe  are  less 
acute  than  those  occupying  the  higher  planes.  With 
their  stunted  mental  and  moral  sensibilities,  their 
restricted  and  beclouded  horizon,  they  are  incapable  of 
drawing  clear  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  or 
of  comprehending  the  humiliation  and  disgrace  that 
would  follow  conviction,  and  are,  therefore,  Uttle 
influenced  by  the  terrors  of  the  law. 

It  is  elevation  and  not  intimidation,  individual  uplift 
and  not  repression  that  these  people  need.  When 
crime  is  committed  by  those  moving  in  the  social  circles 
where  the  highest  standards  of  equity  and  justice  are 
maintained,  and  where  the  sanctity  of  human  life  is 
properly  appreciated,  it  is  usually  by  those  that  have 
always  been  out  of  harmony  with  the  circle  in  which 
they  have  moved.  Almost  without  exception  such 
offenders  are  deficient  mentally,  or,  having  been  un- 
fortunate in  their  early  training  are  not  susceptible  to 
assimilation  in  the  society  in  which  they  move;  and 
upon  these  the  deterrent  effects  of  the  law  also  fall 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM    CRIME     199 

lightly.  Their  crimes  are  liable  to  be  those  of  impulse, 
of  passion,  and  of  weakness.  This  class  also  furnishes 
the  occasional  criminal  who,  perhaps  is  more  strongly 
influenced  by  the  fear  of  the  law  than  the  criminal  of 
any  other  classs,  yet  this  influence  is  scarcely  appreci- 
able. 

Finally,  when  we  come  to  intelligent  criminals  who 
are  capable  of  reasoning  (if  there  be  such)  the  element 
of  chance  is  so  great  as  to  almost  neutralize  the  deterrent 
effects  of  the  law,  while  the  fear  of  punishment  is  greatly 
minimized.  First,  there  are  the  many  chances  of 
escaping  detection,  or,  if  detected,  there  are  the  chances 
of  escaping  officers,  and  if  brought  to  trial  there  are 
chances  that  the  evidence  will  not  be  sufficient  to  con- 
vict them,  and  finally  there  is  the  possibility  that,  if 
convicted,  judicial  or  executive  clemency  may  inter- 
vene in  their  behalf. 

The  fallacy  of  the  argument,  therefore,  in  favor  of 
the  efficiency  of  punishment  for  the  violation  of  social 
laws,  as  illustrated  by  the  efficacy  of  natural  punish- 
ment for  the  violation  of  natural  laws,  becomes  appar- 
ent when  we  consider  the  certainty  of  the  one  and  the 
uncertainty  of  the  other.  And  yet  people  become 
indifferent  even  to  the  certainty  of  nature's  punish- 
ment. Miners  return  to  the  death  trap  in  the  danger- 
ous mine  where  their  companions  have  so  recently 
perished,  and  from  which  they  may  have  barely  escaped 
with  their  Uves.     Cities  are  hastilv  rebuilt  on  the  site 


200  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN    THE    MAKING. 

of  those  destroyed  by  earthquakes  or  volcanoes,  and 
men  crowd  each  other  to  volunteer  for  ''The  War," 
regardless  of  the  justice  of  the  cause,  the  chances  of 
success,  or  the  danger  of  sacrificing  their  lives. 

The  charm  of  optimism  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  seeks 
to  minimize  possible  dangers  and  encourages  a  more 
hopeful  view  of  life.  This  appears  to  be  peculiarly  the 
philosophy  of  evildoers.  They  are  either  mentally 
incapable  of  comprehending  their  own  danger,  super- 
latively optimistic,  or  recklessly  and  defiantly  indiffer- 
ent to  consequences. 

But  even  leaving  out  of  consideration,  for  the  present, 
the  very  slight  deterrent  effect  of  punishment,  and  the 
important  question  as  to  whether  society  has  the 
inherent  right  in  self-defense  to  inflict  the  death  penalty, 
its  demoralizing  effect  on  the  community  is  worthy  of 
the  most  serious  consideration.  It  would  be  difficult, 
indeed,  to  estimate  the  far  reaching  psychological  effect 
on  the  community,  of  even  the  most  humane  methods 
of  inflicting  the  death  penalty.  Its  sanction  by  law 
tends  to  lessen  regard  for  human  life  and  may  suggest 
to  the  individual  the  right  to  take  the  law  into  his  own 
hands.  In  not  a  few  instances  murders  have  been 
committed  in  the  same  town  on  the  same  day  fixed  for 
the  execution  of  some  criminal,  while  by  records  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  persons  condemned  to 
death  we  find  but  three  who  had  not  at  some  time 
witnessed  other  executions.     The  great  pomp  displayed 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM   CRIME.    20I 

in  the  religious  exercises  at  the  execution  of  condemned 
criminals  in  some  of  the  northwestern  countries  of 
Europe  during  the  eighteenth  century  had  to  be 
abandoned  because  they  were  beheved  to  increase  the 
tendency  to  crime.  Doubtless  this  has  been  an  import- 
ant factor  in  stopping  public  executions  in  this  country. 

An  incident  from  my  own  experience  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  force  of  my  argument.  Within  six 
months  after  acting  in  the  capacity  of  officiating  physi- 
cian at  an  execution,  I  was  called  to  the  prison  at  which 
I  had  attended  the  condemned  man  during  the  death 
watch  to  see  one  of  the  jurors  who  had  sat  in  the  case, 
and  was,  himself,  now  incarcerated  on  the  charge  of 
murder.  It  so  happened,  too,  that  it  was  the  one 
juror  who  had  made  a  speech  in  the  jury  box,  advo- 
cating the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  on  the  ground 
that  something  must  be  done  to  check  the  increase  of 
crime  in  the  community.  Incarcerated  with  him  as 
co-conspirators  in  the  same  murder  were  three  men 
who  were  present  at  the  execution  referred  to. 

When  driven  from  every  other  argument  in  favor  of 
capital  punishment  its  advocates  point  to  its  past 
efficiency  when  heroically  applied,  in  exterminating 
pirates,  brigands  and  other  lawless  bands.  But  this  is 
not  intimidation,  it  is  extermination.  It  is  a  barbarous 
warfare  of  the  many  against  the  few  and  suited  only,  if 
suited  at  all,  to  isolated  or  frontier  communities  where 
law  and  order  have  not  been  estabhshed,  and  in  such 


202  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

wholesale  slaughter  the  innocent  are  as  likely  to  suffer 
as  the  guilty  which  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  condemn 
it  unequivocally. 

The  state  cannot  afford  to  make  mistakes,  especially 
in  the  sacrifice  of  human  Hfe,  and  at  least  one  state, 
Rhode  Island,  has  abandoned  capital  punishment 
altogether,  chiefly  because  of  the  discovery  that  one 
or  two  innocent  persons  had  been  executed.  Recogniz- 
ing the  futility  of  severe  punishments  in  preventing 
crime  the  advocates  of  repression  conceived  what 
appeared  to  be  the  happy  idea  of  substituting  certainty 
of  punishment  by  reducing  penalties  and  shortening 
terms  of  imprisonment.  But  this  has  not  been  at- 
tended with  the  success  its  advocates  hoped  for.  It 
was  beheved  that  if  penalties  were  reduced  and  terms 
of  imprisonment  shortened  conviction  would  be  more 
certain,  and  that  this  increased  certainty  would  offset 
the  reduced  severity.  While  court  records  now  prob- 
ably show  a  larger  proportion  of  convictions,  contrary 
to  expectations,  there  has  been  a  continued  increase  in 
crime.  Indeed,  short  sentences  are  now  recognized  as 
a  fruitful  source  of  crime.  It  has  been  well  said  that 
for  a  judge  or  jury  to  impose  definite  sentences  as  a  cure 
for  crime  is  about  as  logical  as  for  a  physician,  after  a 
superficial  examination  and  a  hurriedly  written  pre- 
scription, to  order  his  patient  at  the  hospital  to  be 
discharged  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  or  that  a  business 
man  would  be  willing  to  agree,  on  discharging  a  dis- 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM    CRIME.    203 

honest  clerk,  to  take  him  back  at  the  expiration  of  six 
or  twelve  months  provided  he  would  spend  that  time 
among  thieves  and  robbers;  and  yet  this,  in  effect,  is 
what  society  is  constantly  doing  through  its  courts  and 
juries. 

When  the  young  culprit  reaches  prison  everyone 
whom  he  sees  except  the  scowling  armed  guard,  is,  like 
himself,  a  convict.  The  great  iron  bars,  the  massive 
walls,  the  dark  cells,  and  the  harsh,  arbitrary  orders  of 
the  gruff  warden  and  guards,  tell  him  that  he  is  an 
outcast.  This  helps  to  strengthen  the  growing  belief 
that  society  has  truly  waged  a  relentless  warfare  upon 
him  and  henceforth  he  is  to  be  counted  as  its  enemy. 
Evidences  of  crime  and  criminality  are  seen  and  felt 
everywhere.  He  breathes  it  in  the  dense,  stifling 
atmosphere  and  hears  it  in  every  sound.  The  most 
rigid  rules  cannot  prevent  clandestine  meetings  of  the 
very  worst  classes,  which,  to  the  young,  are  veritable 
schools  of  crime.  Criminal  contagion  is  in  the  at- 
mosphere and  the  prisoner  could  not  escape  its  deadly 
effects  if  he  would.  Self-respect  is  soon  lost  and  the 
old  motives  for  honesty  are  gone.  Thus  schooled  in 
crime  and  probably  in  idleness  he  is  released  at  the  ex- 
piration of  one  or  two  years  sevenfold  worse  than  when 
he  entered.  If,  perchance,  a  spark  of  hope  for  a  better 
life  remains  it  is  usually  extinguished  when  he  is  con- 
fronted with  the  changed  condition  of  things  at  home, 
where,    unless    specially   restored    to    citizenship    by 


204  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

executive  clemency,  he  is  precluded  from  holding  office, 
exercising  the  right  of  franchise,  or  sitting  on  juries, 
and  finds  himself  out  of  employment  and  shunned  by 
former  friends  and  associates.  Whatever  his  intentions 
may  have  been  he  now  finds  himself  forced  to  seek 
employment  and  companionship  among  the  lowest 
classes  and  the  almost  inevitable  outcome  is  a  return 
to  his  former  habits  and  to  prison,  there  to  take  other 
degrees  in  crime. 

Thus  year  after  year,  society  goes  on  manufacturing 
its  own  criminals.  Recidivism  is  rapidly  on  the  in- 
crease, and  now  those  convicted  on  the  second,  third 
and  fourth  time  make  up  a  large  proportion  of  our 
prison  inmates.  This  is  especially  true  of  workhouses 
and  city  prisons.  "The  courts  have  therefore,  in  a 
measure,  become  self-feeding  machines,  passing  judg- 
ment each  year  on  thousands  that  have  been  previously 
convicted.''  These  recidivists  are,  themselves,  the 
very  best  witnesses  that  can  be  introduced  to  show  the 
slight  deterrent  effect  of  punishment  on  crime.  They 
have  not  only  served  terms  in  prison,  but  many,  if  not 
a  majority  of  them  have  suffered  some  form  of  prison 
punishment  during  their  incarceration,  and  yet  they 
are  returned,  again  and  again,  for  other  offenses. 

In  most  of  our  prisons  if  the  lash  is  forbidden  by  law, 
the  thumbscrew,  the  water  cure,  the  electric  current,  the 
straight  jacket,  or  some  other  equally  painful  and  cruel 
method  is  substituted.     However  good  the  intentions 


PUNISHMENT    AS    A    DETERRENT    FROM    CRIME.    205 

of  prison  officials  may  be,  and  many  of  them  are  not 
overburdened  with  sympathy  for  their  unfortunate 
fellowmen,  cruelty  in  some  form  usually  exists  wherever 
the  contract  system  prevails.  It  matters  little  whether 
prisoners  are  worked  on  the  inside  or  the  outside  of 
prison  walls  nor  if  the  state  reserves  the  right  to  appoint 
its  own  guards  and  maintain  discipline  by  its  own 
officers.  Old  and  experienced  contractors  that  have 
grown  rich  on  convict  labor,  and  have  their  pull  with 
politicians,  know  full  well  how  to  inveigle  or  coerce 
prison  officials,  at  least  into  their  way  of  acting  if  not 
into  their  way  of  thinking.  If  threats  to  sue  the  state 
or  abrogate  a  contract  and  throw  a  thousand  or  two  idle 
prisoners  on  the  state  are  not  sufficient,  an  appeal  to 
politicians  usually  suffices.  I  am  sure  that  the  com- 
missioners and  warden  of  the  Kentucky  Penitentiary, 
where  I  served  both  as  physician  and  assistant  warden, 
were  humane  and  sincere  in  their  desire  to  introduce 
many  needed  prison  reforms,  and  yet  they  were  handi- 
capped at  every  step  by  heartless  contractors  that  had 
held  the  state  in  their  grasp  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century. 

We  are  so  prone  to  associate  cruelty  to  prisoners 
with  the  Dark  Ages  or  with  Siberian  exile,  that  news- 
paper and  magazine  accounts  of  such  things  in  our  own 
times  and  among  our  own  people  appear  to  make  but 
little  impression  upon  us.  Even  the  recently  pubHshed 
report  of  a  Legislative  Committee  of  one  of  our  own 


2o6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

states,  which  showed  that  at  least  fifty  prisoners  had 
been  beaten  to  death  in  the  prisons  and  on  the  convict 
farms  of  the  state  in  less  than  three  years,  1906-9, 
seemed  to  affect  us  but  Httle.  It  is  true  that  some  of 
the  startling  disclosures  of  the  horrible  barbarities 
practiced  in  a  number  of  our  Southern  convict  camps 
created  quite  a  sensation  at  the  time,  but  these  were 
soon  forgotten.  Comparatively  few  people,  even  now, 
know  that  at  least  one  hundred  out  of  every  five  hun- 
dred prisoners  sent  to  those  camps,  died  of  torture, 
starvation  or  disease  contracted  from  exposure  in  camp ; 
that  men  were  often  murdered  and  women  outraged 
while  in  charge  of  officers  of  the  law;  that  for  years 
men  and  women,  white  and  black,  were  sold  by  author- 
ity of  law  to  the  highest  bidding  soulless  corporation,  to 
work  on  railroads,  in  coal  mines  and  lumber  camps, 
with  but  little  restrictions  as  to  their  treatment;  that 
constables  and  deputy  sheriffs  often  made  from  five  to 
seven  thousand  dollars  a  year  by  trumping  up  charges 
against  people  and  railroading  them  off  to  these  camps 
where  their  labor  was  in  demand. 

I  have  some  personal  knowledge  of  these  attrocities, 
for  my  first  employment  as  physician  was  in  a  railroad 
convict  camp  and  my  first  patient  was  a  young  white 
convict  who  was  dying  of  pneumonia  and  of  injuries 
inflicted  by  a  brutal  guard  two  days  before,  because  he 
failed,  in  his  weakened  condition,  to  perform  the  task 
assigned  him  in  a  ditch  in  which  water  stood  one  foot 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM    CRIME.   207 

deep.  It  was  in  this  camp  that  I  saw  prisoners  with 
great  iron  shackles  fastened  to  their  legs  being  beaten 
by  guards  while  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  camp  to 
the  place  of  work,  because  they  could  not  keep  pace 
with  the  other  prisoners.  It  was  here,  too,  that  reliable 
witnesses  told  me  of  seeing  brutal  guards  with  fiendish 
glee  stick  their  knives  into  the  swollen  abdomens  of 
the  putrifying  corpses  of  convicts. 

Between  1896  and  1901, 1  visited  one  or  more  prisons 
in  sixteen  of  our  states  and  three  provinces  in  Canada, 
and  almost  without  exception  I  found  politicians  and 
contractors  the  evil  genius  of  prison  reform.  Although 
the  spirit  of  reform  was  abroad  in  the  land,  they  resisted 
it  as  one  would  resist  the  most  deadly  evil  because  it 
meant  the  end  to  their  nefarious  traffic  in  human  flesh 
and  human  souls.  But  thanks  to  the  successive  tidal 
waves  of  reform  which  have  swept  over  our  country 
during  the  last  few  decades  nearly  all  of  our  reforma- 
tories and  many  of  our  prisons  have  been  rescued  from 
the  clutches  of  these  human  vultures  who  so  long 
feasted  and  fattened  on  human  weakness  and  human 
misery. 

My  experience  with  prisoners  is  that  however  lawless 
a  man  may  have  been  on  the  outside,  when  inside  of 
prison  walls  and  iron  bars,  and  surrounded  by  armed 
guards,  none  but  fools  will  offer  further  resistance  unless 
provoked  to  do  so  by  cruelty  and  unkindness.  The 
very  first  earnest,  prayerful  resolve  that  ninty-nine  out 


2o8  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

of  every  one  hundred  young  prisoners  make,  when  they 
first  enter  prison,  is  that  they  will  follow  the  path  of 
least  resistance  by  giving  the  ofiicers  as  Httle  trouble  as 
possible,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  by  so  doing 
they  will  bring  the  least  trouble  on  themselves.  The 
critical,  psychological  moment,  therefore,  in  the  Hfe  of 
every  youthful  prisoner,  is  when  for  the  first  time,  the 
great  iron  gate  at  the  prison  closes  behind  him  with  a 
sharp  clank,  thus  shutting  him  out  from  the  world  and 
shutting  the  world  out  from  him.  Hundreds  of  prison- 
ers have  attempted  to  describe  to  me  their  feehngs  at 
this  moment,  and  without  exception  they  have  all 
acknowledged  that,  at  no  other  time  in  their  lives  did 
they  feel  in  such  great  need  of  friends,  at  no  other  time 
did  kind  words  sink  so  deeply  into  their  hearts  and 
leave  such  lasting  impressions  for  good,  and  at  no  other 
time  did  unkindness  cut  so  keenly  and  leave  such  bitter 
pangs.  One  prisoner  stated  the  case  rather  inelegantly, 
but  tersely,  thus;  "There  is  absolutely  no  place  in  all 
the  world,  where,  by  a  touch  of  human  kindness,  a  man 
can  be  so  easily  transported  to  the  third  heavens,  or 
by  a  touch  of  unkindness,  so  easily  forced  to  make  a 
league  with  the  devil,  as  in  prison''. 

In  this  highly  receptive,  emotional  state,  with  the 
temptations  of  the  world  and  its  contaminating  in- 
fluences shut  out  by  prison  walls,  and  with  the  moral 
atmosphere  of  the  prison  what  it  should  be,  it  would 
be  possible  for  youthful  prisoners  at  least  to  cement 


PUNISHMENT   AS   A   DETERRENT   FROM   CRIME.    209 

resolution  on  resolution  until  they  are  able  to  be  not 
only  good  prisoners  while  in  confinement,  but  good 
citizens  after  their  release.  This,  with  the  permanent 
separate  confinement  of  incorrigibles  is  the  supreme 
prison  problem  of  the  future,  for  repression  has  not  only 
failed  to  check  the  spread  of  crime  on  the  outside,  but 
has  utterly  failed  to  secure  discipHne  on  the  inside  of 
prison  walls.  The  most  that  it  has  done  in  the  United 
States,  at  least,  is  to  annually  incarcerate  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons,  and  to  main- 
tain a  great  standing  army  of  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  adult  and  youthful  inmates  in  our  prisons 
and  reformatories  at  an  estimated  annual  cost  of  more 
than  six  bilUons  of  dollars. 

The  first  great  problem  of  the  American  people,  and 
of  all  people,  is  the  intellectual  and  moral  education  of 
the  masses,  the  restriction  of  the  propagation  of  the 
socially  unfit,  the  removal  of  the  sources  and  centers  of 
crime,  and  the  estabUshment  of  a  more  healthy  pubUc 
moral  sentiment  among  all  classes.  Even  then  the 
millenium  will  not  come.  Courts  and  prisons  will  con- 
tinue to  be  factors,  but  they  should  be  ever  decreasing 
factors  in  our  social  organism.  They  should  not  be 
made  the  foundation  and  capstone  of  our  social  super- 
structure, nor  become  the  chief  cornerstone  in  the 
building. 

Prisons  and  reformatories  will  continue  to  be  necess- 
ary for  the  purpose  of  restraint  and  reformation  until 


2IO  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

society  can  learn  to  prevent  crime  by  protecting  its 
youth  from  contaminating  and  corrupting  influences 
but  the  guillotine,  the  hangman's  rope  and  the  electric 
chair  should  no  longrer  be  permitted  to  disgrace  an 
enlightened  Christian  civilization. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

REFORMATION. 

According  to  the  present  prevailing  theory  of  the 
treatment  of  crime,  through  the  reformation  and 
rehabihtation  of  the  criminal,  retributive  punishment 
has  no  place,  either  in  a  properly  constituted  penal 
code,  or  in  institution  management,  and  should  be 
speedily  eliminated  from  all  criminal  proceedings  and 
reformatory  discipline.  Any  semblance  of  vengeance 
or  retribution  in  dealing  with  unfortunate  human 
beings,  is  held,  not  only  as  contrary  to  every  principle 
of  ethics,  but  is  in  itself  criminal  in  the  extreme ;  more- 
ever,  it  is  based  on  the  false  assumption  that  society 
can,  in  a  measure,  be  compensated  for  a  wrong  com- 
mitted, by  inflicting  punishment  upon  the  offender  in  a 
degree  commensurate  with  the  wrong;  or,  that  punish- 
ment of  one  member  of  society  will  deter  others  from 
crime.  The  truth  is,  such  action  does  not  mend  the 
wrong  in  the  least;  does  not  repay  society  a  farthing, 
and  as  has  been  conclusively  shown,  serves  but  nomi- 
nally as  a  deterrent  to  others. 

The  inherent  right  of  society  to  protect  itself  from 
evildoers  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  biblical 


2  12  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

injunction,  "If  thy  hand  offend  thee  cut  it  off,"  should 
be  Hterally  enforced.  It  is  not  the  diseased  member 
that  either  the  individual  or  society  wishes  to  be  rid 
of,  but  rather  the  disease  in  that  member.  With  this 
as  the  controlling  motive,  the  culprit  is  treated  more 
as  an  offender  than  as  a  criminal;  the  term  of  his  con- 
finement is  regulated  more  by  his  evil  tendencies  than 
by  the  single  offense  committed.  It  is  not  so  much  his 
physical,  as  his  moral  well-being  that  is  sought,  and  he 
is  released  only  when  his  evil  tendencies  are  beUeved 
to  be  completely  eradicated;  when  he  is  thoroughly 
rehabilitated  and  capable  of  becoming  a  respectable, 
self-sustaining,  law-abiding  citizen.  Should  there  be 
any  doubt  as  to  the  complete  reformation  of  the 
prisoner,  he  is,  if  given  his  liberty  at  all,  released  con- 
ditionally, on  his  good  behavior,  under  the  surveillance 
of  a  State  Agent,  a  Prisoner's  Aid  Society,  or  Charity 
Organization,  that  assists  him  in  securing  employment 
and  aids  him  in  such  other  ways  as  his  individual  needs 
may  require;  if,  after  sufficient  trial,  he  fails,  he  is 
returned  to  the  prison  for  further  treatment.  By  this 
method  the  relation  of  the  prisoner  and  the  prison 
officials  is  entirely  changed.  Both  are  striving  for  the 
same  end;  the  early  release  of  the  prisoner,  not  simply 
through  his  good  behaviour,  nor  even  his  good  inten- 
tions, but  through  his  demonstrated  capacity  to  carry 
these  good  intentions  into  effect  when  released  from 
the  restraining  influence  of  the  prison.     The  officials 


REFORMATION.  213 

then  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  friends  of  the  prisoner, 
and  the  enemies  only  of  his  evil  propensities.  The 
prisoner,  on  the  other  hand,  learns  to  fear  his  evil 
tendencies,  for  only  by  conquering  them  can  he  hope  to 
secure  his  liberty. 

Prison  discipline  is  thus  simplified  and  elevated. 
Instead  of  external,  repressive  measures,  the  powerful 
force  of  hope  becomes  operative,  and  the  moral  evolu- 
tion is  from  within,  hence  its  outward  expression  is 
normal  and  wholesome.  In  its  strictest  application 
this  method  does  not  permit  the  intervention  of  friends 
in  behalf  of  the  prisoner.  No  petitions  or  letters  asking 
his  release  are  permitted.  Even  if  permitted  by  the 
law,  the  executive  seldom  intervenes,  except  on  recom- 
mendation of  the  Prison  Commissioners  or  Board  of 
Pardons.  "The  great  object  is  to  compel  the  prisoner 
to  struggle  out;  to  make  him  feel  that  the  date  of  his 
discharge  depends  upon  himself,  and  upon  no  other 
person,  not  even  upon  the  warden,  nor  upon  the  man- 
agers, not  even  upon  the  Governor;  that  nobody  can 
help  him  in  any  way  except  to  get  command  of  himself. '^ 

To  better  aid  him  in  this  uplifting  process,  the 
atmosphere  of  the  prison  is  such  as  to  strengthen  every 
effort  of  the  prisoner  to  throw  off  any  natural  or  ac- 
quired shortcomings  he  may  have,  and  to  enable  him 
to  hold  any  vantage  ground  he  may  gain.  Purity  and 
cleanliness  greet  him  in  every  department  of  the  prison; 
in  the  dining  room,  the  cell-house,  the  shops,  the  yards, 


214  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

in  the  conduct  of  those  who  have  him  in  charge  and 
those  with  whom  he  comes  in  daily  contact. 

Strict  discipHne,  maintained  through  gentle  and 
kind,  but  firm  and  positive  measures,  is  seen  and  felt 
everywhere,  in  order  that  the  discordant  elements  in 
the  prisoner's  make-up  may  be  brought  into  unison 
with  the  harmony  pervading  his  surroundings.  The 
hum  of  machinery  furnishes  music  for  the  prison  during 
all  working  hours,  occupation  making  it  impossible  for 
idle  brains  to  plot  mischief  and  idle  hands  to  carry  it 
into  execution.  Trade  schools  are  maintained,  where 
the  inmates  may  prepare  themselves  while  in  prison  to 
the  more  readily  secure  employment  when  released. 

Prisoners  are  studied  individually,  as  well  as  collect- 
ively, and  such  means  used  in  each  case,  as  will  best 
cure  defects,  strengthen  weak  points,  and,  at  the  same 
time  develop  and  bring  out  that  which  is  good.  It 
does  not  matter  so  much  what  a  man  has  done  as  what 
he  is,  and  what,  under  the  circumstances  will  help  him 
to  obtain  self-mastery,  which  will  finally  end  in  complete 
reformation.  Officers  and  employees  strive  to  show 
the  prisoner  that  they  are  his  friends,  and  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  him  in  his  efforts  to  reform.  While  no 
morbid  sentimentality  is  manifested,  firmness  of  pur- 
pose and  sympathy  for  the  unfortunates  are  seen  and 
felt  everywhere.  If  correction  is  necessary,  the  prisoner 
is,  so  far  as  possible,  made  to  feel  that  it  is  his  bad 
conduct  and  criminal  tendencies  that  are  being  cor- 


REFORMATION.  21 5 

rected,  the  object  being  not  merely  to  punish  or  humili- 
ate him,  but  to  suppress  the  bad  quahties  or  tendencies 
and  bring  out  the  good;  furthermore,  that  it  is  not  so 
much  for  past  bad  misconduct  that  he  is  imprisoned 
or  punished,  as  it  is  to  secure  future  good  conduct. 

The  difference  in  the  two  methods  is  well  illustrated 
in  the  punishment  for  carrying  deadly  weapons,  ex- 
plosives, or  burglars'  tools  on  the  person.  According 
to  the  vindictive  idea,  the  offender  is  confined  for 
violating  a  statutory  law,  and  when  he  is  released  he 
feels  that  he  has  repaid,  or  evened  up  with  society. 
But  according  to  the  reformatory  idea  he  is  confined, 
not  so  much  for  the  statutory  offence,  as  for  the  fact 
that  he  is  a  menace  to  society  and  needs  to  be  taught 
to  respect  and  appreciate  the  rights  of  others.  If  to 
accompUsh  this,  confinement  for  Hfe  be  necessary,  well 
and  good,  so  long  as  he  is  made  to  pay  his  own  way  in 
prison.  In  any  event,  society  must  be  protected  and 
those  of  its  delinquent  members  who  will  not  be  re- 
formed must  be  restrained.  "The  convict  is  usually 
less  expensive  than  the  unreformed  ex-convict."  The 
danger  of  making  prisons  so  comfortable  and  luxurious 
as  to  be  desirable  lodging  places  for  tramps  and  crimi- 
nals is  largely  overcome  by  the  increased  determination 
to  make  all  able-bodied  inmates,  especially  the  in- 
corrigible ones,  earn  their  own  living. 

While  the  older  and  less  hopeful  inmates  in  regular 
prisons  are  still  to  be  given  the  benefits  of  marks,  grades. 


2i6  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

good  time,  interest  in  profits,  indeterminate  sentences 
and  such  other  favorable  surroundings  and  upHfting 
influences  as  humanity  demands,  it  is  especially  re- 
served for  intermediate  prisons  and  reformatories  for 
young  adults,  to  partake  of  these  advantages  in  larger 
measure.  To  these  reformatories  are  brought  annually 
for  treatment,  thousands  of  young  men  from  eighteen 
to  twenty-five,  and  even  thirty  years  of  age,  the  greater 
proportion  of  them  from  unfavorable  surroundings, 
and  many  for  the  very  worst  crimes.  But  so  effectual 
are  the  methods  used,  that  fully  eighty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  large  number  annually  released  are  thoroughly  re- 
habihtated,  and  many  of  them  obtain  and  hold  good 
positions,  as  shown  by  the  records  kept  of  them  after 
their  release.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  the  training  in  the 
trades  and  occupations  is  so  thorough  in  some  of  these 
institutions,  that  the  demand,  at  good  wages,  for  the 
inmates,  who  were  so  recently  criminal  outcasts,  is 
even  greater  than  the  supply. 

When  a  young  man  enters,  a  complete  record  is  made 
of  his  family  history,  including  that  of  his  own  life,  his 
education,  occupation  and  past  conduct,  so  far  as  can 
be  obtained.  He  is  then  carefully  examined  and  tested 
as  to  his  physical  and  mental  condition,  his  aptitude, 
characteristics  and  eccentricities;  after  a  diagnosis  of 
his  case  is  made  and  recorded,  he  is  put  on  the  treat- 
ment best  suited  to  him.  If  the  charge,  for  instance, 
be  manslaughter,  assault,  or  any  act  of  violence  in- 


REFORMATION.       •  217 

dicating  an  ungovernable  temper,  the  cause  of  this, 
whether  it  be  natural  or  acquired,  is  ascertained,  if 
possible,  that  treatment  may  be  specially  suited  to  his 
needs.  Then,  in  addition  to  being  given  the  benefits 
of  the  very  best  physical,  mental  and  moral  treatment, 
with  other  inmates,  he  is  placed  in  a  class  known  as  the 
class  of  "self-control,"  where  he  is  promoted  by  degrees, 
as  he  succeeds  in  controlling  himself,  and  is  graduated 
in  that  special  class  when  this  is  fully  accomplished. 
He  is  first  given  training  in  such  calisthenic  and  gym- 
nastic exercises;  such  lessons  in  tedious  drawing  and 
difficult  handicraft;  such  instruction  in  the  handling 
of  sharp  instruments  and  the  preparation  of  sample 
articles,  as  will  place  every  muscle,  limb  and  joint  under 
his  complete  control.  Then  he  is  given  the  position  of 
drill  master,  captain  of  a  squad  of  men,  or  some  equally 
responsible  position,  requiring  the  exercise  of  the 
greatest  patience  and  forbearance,  until  he  has  ac- 
quired complete  self-mastery.  If,  during  the  progress 
of  the  treatment,  it  is  found  that  a  mistake  in  any 
particular  has  been  made  in  the  diagnosis,  his  studies 
and  exercises  are  changed  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
case.  If  outbursts  of  anger  or  other  evidences  of  a 
violent  disposition  continue,  he  is  sometimes  placed  at 
the  forge,  or  at  a  task  requiring  great  physical  effort, 
until  his  surplus  energy  is  exhausted  and  through  study 
and  effort,  his  will  is  strengthened,  and  resort  to  such 
measures  is  no  longer  necessary.     With  the  same  pains- 


2l8  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

taking  care,  the  weaknesses  of  each  inmate  are  treated. 
The  young  man  who  has  fallen,  through  strong  drink,  is 
given  not  only  the  benefit  of  the  best  medical  treat- 
ment, but  the  impetus  which  refined  training,  educa- 
tion, and  skilled  labor  afford,  together  with  all  those 
restraining  influences  which  such  a  Ufe  furnishes.  In 
addition  to  these  he  has  stimulus  offered  by  the  hope 
of  release  through  complete  recovery.  The  man  with 
a  weak  will  or  with  defective  reasoning  faculties  is 
given  an  opportunity,  through  physical  and  mental 
effort,  to  gain  his  equilibrium.  Thus  the  whole  force 
of  the  institution,  with  the  full  authority  and  sympathy 
of  the  State  is  directed  against  the  special  weakness  of 
each  individual. 

The  model  industrial  school  for  the  reformation  of 
still  more  youthful  offenders  is  simply  a  model  industrial 
school  on  a  large  scale  for  normal  boys  or  girls,  divided 
into  groups  of  homes,  where  the  one  controlling  idea, 
both  in  construction  and  management,  is  the  moral  and 
spiritual  rehabiUtation  of  the  inmates.  Hope  is  the 
sign  at  the  entrance  of  every  department,  not  printed 
in  words  and  letters  to  be  read  by  the  eye,  but  to  be 
unmistakably  seen  and  felt  in  the  atmoshpere  created 
by  such  an  environment.  The  very  air  is  so  saturated 
with  this  controlling  force  that  the  hearts  of  the  most 
stolid  are  touched  and  stirred  by  its  manifestations. 

"What  wax  so  frozen  but  dissolves  with  tempering, 
And  yields  to  every  slight  impression. '^ 


REFORMATION.  219 

While  there  is  none  of  that  sickly  sentimentality,  so 
often  manifested  even  toward  hardened  criminals,  and 
while  there  is  no  relaxation  of  firmness  of  purpose  to 
carry  into  effect  the  severest  correction  deemed  neces- 
sary, yet  gentleness  and  kindness  are  the  watchwords 
of  all.  Useful  trades  and  occupations  are  taught,  and 
every  inducement  offered  the  inmates  when  released, 
to  keep  away  from  their  old  haunts  of  vice  and  crime. 

In  many  of  the  best  equipped  institutions  commend- 
able progress  has  been  made  towards  scientific  peda- 
gogy. Inmates  are  closely  studied  and  valuable 
observations  are  made  and  recorded.  The  life  history 
of  each  one,  together  with  a  history  of  his  family,  is 
carefully  recorded,  physical  measurements  and  photo- 
graphs taken,  asymetries  and  abnormalities  noted,  the 
sensibilities  and  motor  activities  tested,  and  the  moral 
sense  given  careful  consideration.  In  this  way  classi- 
fications are  made  that  save  much  time  and  annoyance 
afterwards.  Diseased  conditions,  whether  inherited  or' 
acquired,  are  given  prompt  medical  attention;  and 
mental  aberrations  and  moral  obliquities  are  classified 
and  carefully  treated.  Thus,  a  fair  working  basis  is 
established.  Teachers  and  caretakers  are  in  this  way 
enabled  to  understand  where  to  take  from  and  where 
to  add  to,  in  order  to  insure  a  full,  well  rounded  de- 
velopment of  mind  and  character. 

In  the  public  schools  there  is  a  maximum  of  intellect- 
ual and  a  minimum  of  moral  training,  but  in  the  in- 


V 


22  o  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

stitution  this  is  reversed.  In  schools  and  colleges 
studies  are  pursued  for  their  own  sake,  but  in  the 
institution  they  are  selected  chiefly  with  a  view  to  their 
influence  on  character.  If  the  boy  can  once  be  brought 
to  see  his  acts  as  a  whole,  and  their  consequences,  the 
moral  perception  which  is  more  complex  than  mental 
perception,  will  usually  be  awakened.  The  natural 
process  of  the  reformation  of  the  youthful  offender, 
therefore,  is  from  right  acting  to  right  thinking,  and 
finally  to  right  feeling.  Rarely  is  the  inner  con- 
sciousness so  awakened  as  to  immediately  revolutionize 
actions  and  thoughts.  Until  the  intellectual  and 
moral  perceptions  are  trained  to  harmonious  co-opera- 
tion, reHgious  impressions  are  apt  to  be  superficial  and 
transitory.  Though  religious  training  is  an  important 
factor  in  all  reform  work,  as  it  builds  up  character  and 
weakens  the  ties  that  bind  to  evil  habits  and  evil 
thoughts,  it  is  much  more  likely  to  have  permanent 
effect  when  the  will  is  likewise  strengthened.  Charac- 
ter thus  built  upon  good  habits,  good  thoughts  and  a 
strong  will,  riveted  and  cemented  together  by  strong 
religious  convictions,  is  likely  to  stand  the  test  of  time. 
To  these  efforts,  at  institutional  character  building, 
are  added  the  justly  popular  and  much  lauded  Juvenile 
Court  and  Probationary  system,  whereby  young  of- 
fenders, especially  first  offenders,  are  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  refrain  from  evil  habits,  through  the  vigilance 
of  probation  officers  and  the  oversight  of  the  court, 


REFORMATION.  221 

without  being  sent  to  prison  or  reformatories,  or  even 
adjudged  criminals.  We  also  have,  in  many  places, 
industrial  and  disciplinary  day  schools,  where  truant, 
and  so-called  incorrigible  children  are  sent,  returning  to 
their  home  at  night,  when  this  is  deemed  permissible. 
In  this  way  it  is  proposed,  at  much  less  cost  to  the  state, 
to  undo  some  of  the  evils  wrought  by  the  influence  of 
bad  environment,  and  to  do  what  the  pubhc  schools 
cannot  well  do.  But  it  is  found  that  the  only  hope  for 
the  moral  regeneration  of  a  large  number  of  delinquent 
children,  is  to  remove  them  entirely  from  the  abodes  of 
squalor  and  want  and  from  the  schools  of  vice  and 
crime,  so  often  called  homes,  to  the  institution,  or  what 
is  far  better,  to  good  Christian  homes. 

Neither  custodial  or  correctional  institutions  are  held 
in  the  high  esteem  they  were  once  held.  However 
systematically  arranged,  luxuriously  furnished  or 
humanely  conducted,  they  cannot  be  endowed  with  the 
warmth  and  earnestness  of  a  mother's  affection;  with 
the  genial  atmosphere,  kindly  love,  and  impelling  force 
usually  permeating  the  best  Christian  homes.  Besides, 
it  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  understood  that 
children  are  not  adapted  to  any  wholesale  plan  of 
nurture.  Although  there  may  be  a  striking  similarity 
between  them,  yet  each  represents  a  separate  and  dis- 
tinct physical  and  psychical  process.  Each  is  a  sep- 
arate child  unit  and  has  its  own  susceptibilities  and 
peculiarities.     Each,  therefore,  must  receive  its  inspir- 


222  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE    MAKING. 

ation  to  higher,  loftier  living  in  its  own  pecuUar  way. 

Owing  to  the  formal  machine-like  drill  and  discipline 
in  the  institution,  all  are,  in  a  measure,  reduced  to  the 
same  level.  To  the  young  and  emotional  child  there 
is  a  vast  difference  in  saying  its  prayers  at  its  mother's 
knee  and  repeating  them  parrot-like,  at  the  beat  of  a 
drima  or  tap  of  a  bell.  In  the  institution,  spontaneity 
is,  in  a  measure,  paralyzed;  individuality  is  merged 
into  that  of  the  mass,  and  the  child  becomes  lethargic 
and  mechanical.  This  is  especially  true  of  children 
brought  up  in  custodial  institutions.  Hence,  the  grow- 
ing demand  for  better  homes  for  children  and  better 
children  for  the  homes.  The  public  conscience  is  be- 
coming aroused  as  never  before,  to  a  reaHzation  of  the 
awful  fact  that  "Every  delinquent  child  is  a  defrauded 
child;  that  it  has  been  despoiled  of  its  birthright, — 
the  right  to  be  well-bred  and  well- taught;  and  that 
every  dehnquent  child  on  the  street  is  a  living  indict- 
ment of  society  for  its  neglect  and  indifference";  that, 
like  disease,  crime  is  found  wherever  the  conditions 
exist,  and,  like  disease,  also  disappears  whenever  the 
causes  are  removed.  In  short,  that  every  community 
has  just  the  number  of  delinquents  that  it  deserves 
and  deserves  just  the  number  that  it  has. 

The  true  mission  of  philanthropy,  therefore,  is  to  dry 
up  the  sources  of  misery  and  vice,  and  remove  the 
causes  of  pauperism  and  crime  rather  than  to  punish 
the  criminal  and  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  poor. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PREVENTION. 

The  history  of  the  race  has  been  largely  the  history 
of  society's  conflict  with  crime,  and  in  this  conflict 
society  has  thought  that  to  rid  itself  of  the  criminal, 
either  by  extermination,  confinement,  exile,  or  reforma- 
tion, was  to  rid  itself  of  crime.  For  thousands  of  years 
judicial  and  ecclesiastical  murder  appeared  to  be  the 
chief  business  of  state  and  church.  Beccaria,  the 
Italian  reformer  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  the 
first  one  to  arouse  public  sentiment  against  the  judicial 
cruelties  of  the  times,  while  his  contemporary,  John 
Howard,  the  English  reformer,  was  the  first  to  suggest 
that  prisons  (which  up  to  that  time  had  been  used 
merely  as  places  of  detention  for  the  accused  awaiting 
trial,  and  the  condemned  awaiting  execution)  might  be 
utilized  for  purposes  of  punishment,  and  also  for  re- 
formation. Since  the  era  of  these  two  immor- 
tals, and  especially  since  the  impetus  given  to  de- 
mocracy by  the  French  and  American  revolutions,  the 
altruistic  spirit  has  exerted  a  growing  influence  on 

society  in  its  treatment  of  its  delinquent  classes;  but 

223 


224  AMERICAN    BAD    BOYS    IN    THE    MAKING. 

not  until  near  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
prevention  of  crime  given  serious  consideration. 

The  greatest  change  in  prison  management  came  at 
first  through  the  sentimental,  or  the  purely  humanitar- 
ian side  of  philanthropy.  The  finer  sensibilities  of  the 
newer  civilization  revolted  at  the  cruelties  and  in- 
humanities of  the  past,  and  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
times  often  overstepped  the  bounds  of  reason  and 
judgment.  Striking  illustrations  of  the  truth  of  this 
were  seen  in  the  indiscriminate  giving  of  alms,  and  in 
the  maudlin  sympathy  so  often  manifested  towards 
even  hardened  criminals. 

Now,  while  we  are  learning  to  be  firm  without  being 
harsh,  we  are'^also  learning  to  be  merciful  without  being 
weak.  We  have  learned  that  without  law  enforcement 
there  can  be  no  social  progress;  that  in  the  interest  of 
society,  and  not  in  the  spirit  of  revenge,  we  must  be 
firm  in  dealing  with  the  delinquent  classes;  that  officers 
of  the  law,  who  are  usually  on  the  side  of  right  and 
justice,  must  be  loyally  supported  in  their  efforts  to 
suppress  crime;  that  apprehended  offenders  must  be 
given  a  fair  and  speedy  trial,  and  if  convicted  be 
humanely  treated  and  given  an  opportunity  to  reform 
and  make  of  themselves  useful,  law-abiding  citizens 
when  discharged. 

As  every  prison  official  can  testify,  the  most  critical 
moment  in  the  life  of  young  prisoners  is  not  when  they 
enter,  but  when  they  leave  the  prison  gate.     Without 


PREVENTION.    ^  225 

home,  friends,  or  money,  they  return  to  the  world  from 
which  they  have  been  shut  off,  perhaps  for  years. 
Though  no  worse  than  thousands  of  those  that  have 
never  been  in  the  toils  of  the  law,  they  are  shunned  by 
respectable  society,  and  forced  to  seek  employment 
and  companionship  among  the  lowest  classes.  Unless 
given  temporary  aid  by  friends  or  Prisoners'  Aid 
Societies,  their  future  can  be  calculated  with  almost 
mathematical  certainty. 

Just  what  disposition  to  make  of  our  ever  increasing 
number  of  discharged  convicts  is  coming  to  be  a  more 
serious  problem  than  almost  any  one  of  the  many  con- 
fronting present  day  humanitarians.  To  provide 
permanent  homes  for  them,  as  has  been  suggested  by 
some  well  meaning,  but  over  zealous  philanthropist, 
would  only  aggravate  and  intensify  the  situation;  but 
to  altogether  ignore  their  claims  on  society  would  be  to 
ignore  the  best  interest  of  society  at  large.  The  wiser 
provision  for  assistance  certainly  obtains  in  giving 
temporary  aid  until  they  can  secure  employment  and 
become  self-sustaining. 

The  situation  would  be  greatly  simplified  if  all  prisons 
would  adopt  the  Elmira  plan,  not  to  discharge  an  in- 
mate until  his  complete  reformation  has  been  assured, 
and  not  even  then  unless  employment  with  wholesome 
moral  surroundings  has  been  procured  for  him.  To  do 
this  it  would  be  necessary  to  transform  many  of  our 
state,  and  nearly  all  of  our  county  and  city  prisons 


2  26  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

from  places  of  idleness,  vice,  and  crime,  into  places  of 
comfort  and  moral  uplift;  and  to  substitute  competent 
and  trained  officials  for  those  incompetent  and  un- 
trained, many  of  whom  receive  their  appointment,  not 
for  efficiency  and  adaptability,  but  because  of  political 
influence.  If  the  standard  of  all  our  prisons  and  re- 
formatories could  be  elevated  to  that  of  the  best  of 
these  respective  institutions  the  result,  both  from  the 
standpoint  of  morality  and  economics,  would  be  start- 
ling in  its  revelations  though  even  then  the  conditions 
might  be  far  from  ideal. 

Penologists  concur  in  the  opinion  that  many  youth- 
ful and  adult  offenders  who  are  now  sent  to  prison  for 
minor  offences,  could  be  placed  on  their  good  behavior 
under  police  surveillance,  to  the  advantage  both  of 
offenders  and  communities.  Wherever  this  method 
has  been  tried  it  has  given  eminent  satisfaction,  as  it 
saves  expense,  avoids  the  stigma  attached  to  a  prison 
sentence,  and  also  increases  the  efficiency  of  the  police 
by  giving  them  the  function  of  probation  officers. 
This  course  pursued  in  our  justly  popular  Juvenile 
Courts  with  their  probation  officers  is  accomplishing 
much  good,  not  only  in  checking  incipient  evil  tenden- 
cies in  wayward  youths,  but  also  in  purifying  delin- 
quent homes  and  finding  homes  for  the  homeless. 

It  is  not  claimed,  even  by  the  most  hopeful,  that 
poverty  and  crime  can  be  entirely  eradicated,  yet  it  is 
believed  that  by  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge, 


PREVENTION.  227 

practical,  moral,  and  religious,  much  improvement  can 
be  made  in  the  unfavorable  sanitary  and  economic 
conditions  of  the  less  favored  social  classes,  that  vicious 
destitution,  the  real  nursery  of  idleness  and  crime,  can 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  There  is  a  vast  difference 
between  humble  circumstances,  or  even  honest  poverty, 
and  vicious  destitution. 

Between  the  highest  and  lowest  social  strata  in  every 
civiUzed  community  there  are  various  spheres  or  zones 
merging  into  and  overlapping  each  other,  in  which  the 
units  are  either  striving  upward  or  drifting  downward, 
according  to  their  respective  capacities  and  opportuni- 
ties. In  the  higher  circles,  of  course,  the  tendency  is 
towards  the  highest  social  standard,  and  in  the  lower 
circles  the  opposite  tendency  obtains.  A  hopeful  sign 
for  the  future,  in  this  regard,  is  found  in  the  fact  that, 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  our 
teachers  are  more  than  ever  before,  placing  stress  on 
moral  training,  and  are  striving  more  and  more  to 
reach  the  homes  of  the  lower  social  classes,  where  the 
influence  of  the  school  has  so  far  scarcely  been  felt. 
Much  good  is  also  being  accomplished  by  truant 
schools,  special  day  schools,  night  schools,  and  social 
settlement  schools. 

The  remarkable  efficiency  of  the  kindergartens  in 
preventing  the  inception  and  development  of  criminal 
tendencies  in  children,  exposed  by  their  home  sur- 
roundings to  evil  influences,  has  given  rise  to  a  wide- 


228  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE    MAKING. 

spread  demand  for  their  adoption  as  an  indispensable 
part  of  our  public  school  system,  especially  in  our  cities. 
Out  of  eighteen  thousand  kindergarten  children  in  San 
Francisco,  where  the  after  lives  of  nine  thousand  were 
traced,  only  one,  and  he  a  simple-minded  boy,  had  ever 
been  apprehended  for  crime.  The  early  co-ordination 
and  correlation  of  the  psycho-physical  forces  accom- 
plished by  the  kindergarten  is  the  surest  safeguard 
against  wrongdoing. 

The  increased  efficiency  in  many  of  our  city  schools 
through  improved  sanitation,  and  the  improved  physi- 
cal, mental,  and  moral  well-being  of  the  pupils,  follow- 
ing systematic  medical  inspection;  and  the  marked 
physical  and  moral  improvement  of  the  children  of 
overcrowded  city  districts,  following  the  reconstruction 
of  tenement  houses  on  modern  sanitary  plans,  show  the 
close  relation  between  sanitary  science  and  social  pro- 
gress. Pure  air,  sunshine,  and  wholesome,  nutritious 
diet  have  come  to  stand  for  more  than  mere  physical 
well  being. 

There  are  reasons,  too,  for  believing  that  many  of  our 
more  far-sighted  employers  are  coming  to  realize  the 
urgent  necessity  of  a  change  in  the  present  industrial 
system,  in  the  interest  of  both  employer  and  employee, 
as  many  of  them  are  adopting  the  profit-sharing  plan, 
on  rather  a  liberal  basis.  The  more  rigid  exclusion  of 
undesirable  immigrants,  and  the  more  general  adoption 
of  arbitration  in  labor  disputes — which  must  ultimately 


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PREVENTION.  229 

become  universal — will  tend  to  relieve  the  long  standing 
tension  between  capital  and  labor  which  has  for  years 
been  a  source  of  much  violence  and  crime,  while  the 
vital  and  widening  interest  now  being  manifested  in 
municipal  reform  will  doubtless  do  much  towards  re- 
moving the  dens  of  vice  and  crime  that  have  so  long 
been  the  shame  and  curse  of  our  cities. 

The  New  Nationalism  as  expressed  by  the  awakened 
moral  consciousness  of  the  American  people  means, 
more  than  poHtical  and  business  honesty,  and  even 
more  than  the  conservation  of  our  national  resources. 
In  its  broadest  and  most  comprehensive  acceptation 
it  means  the  conservation  of  our  vital  and  ethical 
resources — the  physical  and  moral  uplift  of  the  nation. 
It  is  true  that  when  we  think  of  the  vast  amount  of  evil 
there  is  in  the  world,  of  the  suffering  of  the  poor,  of 
man's  inhumanity  to  man,  and  of  the  increased  temp- 
tations for  doing  evil,  especially  for  the  young,  through 
the  increased  perplexities  and  complexities  of  our  in- 
dustrial and  social  life,  we  almost  despair  of  the  future; 
but  when  we  contrast  the  present  with  the  past,  and 
compare  the  good  with  the  bad,  we  become  enthusi- 
astically optimistic.  At  no  other  time  has  the  demand 
for  the  education  and  social  uplift  of  the  masses  been 
so  great;  at  no  other  time  have  science,  sociology,  and 
penology  been  so  firmly  and  positively  united  against 
strong  drink  and  in  favor  of  temperance  reform,  and  at 
no  other  time  has  the  cry  from  the  under-social  world, 


230  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

and  from  behind  prison  bars  touched  such  a  responsive 
chord  in  human  hearts  as  at  the  present  time.  Never 
since  the  formation  of  our  government  has  the  spirit 
of  reform  in  the  interest  of  the  common  people  so  per- 
meated the  poUtical  and  business  atmosphere  as  it 
does  today. 

This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  warfare  is 
ended,  or  that  the  cohorts  of  wickedness  are  less  active 
or  less  powerful  than  in  the  past,  but  it  does  mean  that 
the  forces  of  philanthropy  will  be  more  active  in  the 
future  because  they  are  more  alert,  more  closely  united, 
better  fortified,  and  have  come  to  realize  more  fully 
the  magnitude  and  extent  of  their  duties  and  responsi- 
biUties. 

It  appears  difiicult  for  the  social  mind,  like  the  indi- 
vidual mind,  to  concentrate  on  more  than  one  object 
or  purpose  at  a  time.  When  the  death  penalty  was 
inflicted  for  the  most  trivial  offenses,  it  was  beUeved 
to  be  all  sufficient  as  a  remedy  for  crime.  Then,  when 
torture  was  added  as  a  means  of  terrifying  evildoers,  it 
was  thought  that  the  more  cruel  the  torture  the  greater 
the  terrifying  effect  on  spectators.  Likewise,  when  im- 
prisonment came  to  be  the  chief  form  of  punishment  it 
was  thought  that  the  more  convicts  that  were  sent  to 
prison  the  sooner  crime  would  be  eradicated.  Finally, 
when  the  idea  of  the  reformatory  first  took  shape  and 
became  popular,  especially  in  this  country,  many  well 
meaning  people  thought  that  their  social  responsibilities 


PREVENTION.  23 1 

ceased  when  they  had  gathered  up  all  the  wayward 
boys  and  girls  in  their  respective  communities  and 
rushed  them  off  to  the  reformatories.  It  was  even  said 
that  many  good  people  in  their  enthusiasm  almost 
regretted  that  there  were  not  more  of  such  children,  for 
these  reformatories  were  such  nice  places  in  which  to 
bring  them  up.  Later,  people  began  to  think  how  much 
better  it  would  be  if  homeless  children,  before  wayward 
tendencies  had  been  formed,  could  be  placed  in  custo- 
dial institutions  where  hundreds  and  even  thousands 
could  be  brought  up  according  to  written  rules  and 
regulations,  and  only  those  who  could  not  be  thus 
cared  for,  sent  to  the  reformatories.  But  after  a  time 
even  this  came  to  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 

Aside  from  any  question  of  maladministration  or 
incompetency,  the  results  of  the  very  best  institutions 
were  not  satisfactory.  The  high  death  rate,  and  the 
continued  under  size  and  under  weight  of  those  who 
survived  was  thought  at  first  to  be  due  to  hereditary 
tendencies,  but  the  improved  methods  adopted  in  num- 
bers of  these  institutions,  and  the  placing  of  children  in 
good  homes,  brought  to  light  the  important  fact  that 
children  vary  so  much  in  their  powers  of  assimilation, 
both  of  body  and  mind,  that  it  was  impossible  to  sub- 
ject large  numbers  of  them  to  the  same  regimen  of  diet, 
or  the  same  kind  of  mental  training  with  the  best  pos- 
sible results.  With  the  most  closely  guarded  plan  of 
classification,  the  greatest  needs  of  some  will  not  be 


232  AMERICAN   BAD    BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

supplied.  Besides  it  was  found  that  never  varying 
routine  in  every  department  of  life  soon  became  mon- 
otonous and  ultimately  proved  fatal  to  all.  The  result 
has  been  the  development  of  a  very  strong  sentiment 
in  favor  of  placing  homeless  children  in  good  Christian 
homes  instead  of  sapping  their  vitaHty  and  crushing 
their  individuality  in  these  custodial  and  correctional 
institutions.  But  the  question  is  now  being  asked  in 
the  interest  of  both  philanthropy  and  eugenics,  with 
more  seriousness  than  ever  before.  Why  should  not 
the  home,  where  many  of  these  children  are  born,  be 
made  suitable  habitations  for  their  bringing  up,  and 
finally,  why  should  not  people  before  being  permitted 
to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  parenthood  be  quali- 
fied, physically,  mentally,  and  morally  for  such  respon- 
sibilities. The  whole  range  of  philanthropic  and  scien- 
tific thought,  therefore,  has  come  to  center  more  and 
more  around  the  home  and  the  child.  Never  in  the 
history  of  the  race  has  the  home  been  held  so  sacred, 
or  the  child  been  considered  of  such  vast  social  import- 
ance as  at  the  present  time. 

Though  the  social  millenium  need  not  be  expected, 
yet  if  we  are  to  judge  the  future  by  the  achievements 
of  the  recent  past,  we  are  justified  in  the  belief  that  the 
twentieth  century  has  great  possibiHties  in  store  for 
humanity.  The  one  impelling  reason  for  this  belief  is 
that  the  moral  wave  now  being  felt  in  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  world  is  so  many-sided  and  far-reaching 


PREVENTION.  233 

that  it  touches  nearly  all  phases  of  human  life.  For- 
merly such  visitations  were  limited  in  their  scope. 

They  usually  assumed  some  special  type  by  which 
they  were  known  and  characterized.  At  one  time  it 
was  reUgious  fervor  or  the  spirit  of  liberty  that  per- 
meated the  moral  atmosphere;  at  other  times  it  was 
the  demand  for  popular  education,  for  prison  or  tem- 
perance reform,  or  for  some  benevolent  enterprise; 
but  it  has  been  reseryed  for  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth 
century  to  see  all  these  forces  and  influences  joined 
in  one  gigantic  scheme  of  philanthropy,  engaged  in 
solving,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  many  vexed  social  prob- 
lems of  the  times.  Though  this  herculean  task  has 
scarcely  been  begun,  and  though  disease,  pauperism, 
and  crime  still  remain,  the  most  profound  optimist 
could  not  have  dreamed  half  a  century  ago  that  so  much 
could  have  been  accomplished  in  so  brief  a  time. 

The  average  duration  of  human  life  has  been  materi- 
ally lengthened,  the  spread  of  many  deadly  diseases 
checked,  the  suffering  of  the  sick  and  the  poor  greatly 
ameliorated,  torture  and  mutilation,  as  means  of  terri- 
fying evildoers,  almost  entirely  abolished;  reforma- 
tories established  for  juvenile  and  youthful  adult 
offenders;  the  deaf  and  bUnd  educated,  and  the  insane 
and  feeble  minded  hmnanely  treated.  Indeed,  these 
have  been  the  most  noted  achievements  of  modern 
civiHzation.  In  no  other  department  of  life  does  the 
contrast  between  the  present  and  the  past  stand  out  in 


234  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

such  bold  relief  as  in  the  treatment  of  physical  and 
social  ills.  This  comes  as  a  benediction  after  so  many 
centuries  of  man's  inhumanity  to  man.  If  dark,  dank 
dungeons  for  the  incarceration  of  human  beings  still 
exist,  if  chains  still  clank  on  human  limbs,  and  human 
flesh  still  quivers  under  the  cruel  lash,  it  is  against  the 
solemn  protest  of  the  altruistic  spirit  of  the  times,  for 
more  than  at  any  other  time  it  is  being  recognized  that 
cruelty  will  no  more  prevent  crime  than  almsgiving  will 
prevent  mendicancy,  and  that  man  is  a  social  being  and 
character  a  product  of  the  social  soil.  This  truth  is 
being  pressed  home  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of 
thoughtful  people  more  and  more  as  they  see  it  verified 
in  the  lives  and  characters  of  those  around  them,  as 
they  see  social  conditions,  good  and  bad,  bringing  forth 
fruit  after  their  respective  kinds,  with  almost  the  cer- 
tainty that  seed  sown  in  the  ground  brings  forth  fruit 
after  their  kind.  Although  prisons  and  reformatories 
will  probably  continue  to  be  factors  in  our  social  super- 
structure they  should  be  ever  decreasing  and  not  in- 
creasing factors.  At  best  they  can  serve  only  as  places 
of  detention  or  possibly  the  reformation  of  the  socially 
unfit — the  social  driftwood  gathered  from  the  polluted 
social  stream.  But,  however  diligent  the  gathering, 
the  amount  of  such  driftwood  can  hardly  decrease  so 
long  as  the  stream  itself  remains  polluted.  The  twen- 
tieth century  problem,  then,  for  both  philanthropy  and 
eugenics,  is  the  improvement  in  social  conditions — 


PREVENTION.  235 

purify  the  social  stream — in  order  that  physical  in- 
firmities, mental  aberrations  and  moral  obliquities 
may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

The  rapid  increase  of  praiseworthy  childsaving  move- 
ments in  this  country,  many  of  which  are  true  epoch 
making  events  in  the  history  of  child  conservation, 
mark  the  rapid  growth  of  the  altruistic  spirit  among 
our  people.  The  fact  that  so-called  "Bad  Boys"  are 
making  good  wherever  opportunities  are  afforded  and 
the  further  fact  that  much  of  the  present  day  philan- 
thropy is  being  done  by  people  in  their  own  communi- 
ties where  they  can  see  the  fruits  of  their  labor  has 
added  new  interest  to  the  problem  of  child  conservation. 
The  first  great  lesson  in  the  wonderful  self  governing 
capacity  of  boys  was  given  to  the  world  by  Mr.  W.  R. 
George,  when  he,  in  1890,  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
establishment  of  the  now  famous  "Junior  Republic" 
on  his  farm  at  Freeville,  New  York.  The  citizens  of 
this  unique  republic  were  of  boys  and  girls,  chiefly 
the  former,  from  the  tenement  districts  of  New  York 
city.  Many  of  them  had  served  terms  in  prison,  others 
were  on  suspended  sentences  pending  good  behavior, 
while  all  were  the  victims  of  the  vicious  system  of 
charity  and  poHtical  corruption  practiced  in  the  tene- 
ment districts  of  New  York  city  and  instead  of  being 
trained  to  obedience  and  self  control,  had  been  trained 
so  far  as  trained  at  all,  in  the  very  opposite  direction. 

After  various  experiments  and  failures  for  several 


236  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS   IN   THE   MAKING. 

years,  to  secure  order  and  discipline,  with  adult  help, 
Mr.  George,  in  1894,  placed  boy  officers,  including 
judges,  sheriffs,  policemen,  jurors,  and  prosecuting 
and  defending  attorneys,  in  charge  of  the  colony,  with 
the  most  gratifying  results.  Later,  a  boy  legislature, 
a  boy  president  and  other  boy  officers,  were  elected  by 
the  citizenship  of  the  community  and  a  new  republic 
estabHshed.  The  marvelous  self  governing  capacity  of 
these  boys,  their  keen  sense  of  justice,  their  superior 
powers  of  discrimination,  administration  and  discipHne, 
were  a  revelation  to  Mr.  George  and  educators  and 
sociologists  everywhere.  The  results  were  the  more 
surprising  since  it  was  shown  that  the  very  boys  who 
were  leaders  of  gangs  of  toughs  in  the  city  soon  became 
leaders  of  their  companions  for  civic  righteousness  in 
their  new  surroundings  and  that  the  most  hopeless 
cases  came  from  reformatories  and  orphans*  homes. 

The  many  unique  republics,  patterned  after  this  one 
and  made  up  of  homeless  and  wayward  children,  now 
being  estabHshed  in  various  parts  of  the  country  are 
veritable  human  bee-hives  of  schools,  churches,  shops, 
factories,  stores  and  farms.  It  is  a  great  comphment 
to  the  efficiency  of  these  institutions  that  many  thor- 
oughly rehabilitated  boys  and  girls  are  going  out  from 
them  each  year  and  taking  their  places  in  colleges  and 
in  positions  of  honor  and  trust  along  by  the  side  of  the 
children  of  the  more  favored  classes.  Another  great 
object  lesson  in  the  inherent  goodness  of  boys,  when 


PREVENTION.  237 

given  an  opportunity,  was  given  to  the  world  by  Mr. 
J.  E.  Gunkle,  the  well  known  lover  of  boys,  of  Toledo, 
Ohio,  when  he,  in  1890,  established  the  now  famous 
^'Boyville  News  Boys  Association"  at  a  Christmas 
dinner  given  to  the  news  boys  and  boot  blacks  of  his 
city,  many  of  whom  were  veritable  toughs  and  cigarette 
fiends.  Each  member  was  given  a  card,  which,  among 
other  things  contained  the  statement  that  the  holder 
did  not  "Approve  of  swearing,  steaHng,  lying,  drinking 
intoxicating  liquors  or  smoking  cigarettes.''  Each 
member  was  also  instructed  to  correct  fellow  members 
for  doing  anything  that  would  tend  to  bring  reproach 
on  the  organization.  Meetings  were  at  first  held  in 
aUies,  vacant  stores  and  halls  until  finally  regular  Sun- 
day afternoon  meetings  were  estabKshed  in  large  halls 
with  ministers  and  other  prominent  citizens  as  speakers. 
Although  ofiicered,  at  first,  by  well  known  leaders  of 
toughs,  the  organization  grew  in  public  favor  until  in 
two  years  it  numbered  fifteen  hundred  members  and  in 
four  years  became  the  nucleus  of  a  national  organiza- 
tion. Instead  of  being  looked  upon  with  suspicion  and 
distrust,  by  respectable  society,  as  was  formerly  the 
case,  the  news  boys  and  boot  blacks  of  Toledo  soon 
came  to  be  recognized  as  the  city's  greatest  workers  for 
social  upHft.  Numerous  instances  are  reported  by  the 
good  people  of  this  city  of  boys  who  had  been  terrors 
in  their  respective  communities,  growing  up  under  the 


238  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

guiding  influence  of  this  organization  and  becoming 
honored  and  respected  citizens. 

The,  ''Juvenile  Court''  estabhshed  both  in  Chicago 
and  Denver  about  the  same  time  (1899)  is  another 
manifestation  of  the  growing  altruism  of  the  times. 
The  purpose  of  this  law  is  to  save  the  child.  Youthful 
offenders  are  no  longer  cast  into  prison  with  hardened 
criminals  and  only  as  a  last  resort  are  they  sent  to 
custodial  institutions  but  instead  are  placed  under  the 
watchful  care  of  the  court  and  probation  officers  and 
given  an  opportunity  to  reform.  The  result  has 
demonstrated  that,  with  comparatively  few  exceptions, 
when  a  boy  who  has  been  kicked  and  cuffed  by  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact  once  comes  to  understand 
that  some  one  cares  for  him,  really  and  truly  loves  him 
and  is  anxious  to  help  him  in  his  struggles  against  ad- 
versity, he  instinctively  thinks  of  better  things  and 
better  conduct  and  strives,  in  his  weak  way,  to  come  in 
closer  contact  with  such  person.  But  it  requires  more 
to  convince  such  a  boy  of  one's  friendship  than  the  mere 
statement  of  the  fact.  He  needs  many  tangible  and 
enduring  evidences  of  such  facts.  But  when  this  is 
once  accomphshed  he  is  soon  on  the  highroad  to  social 
reconstruction.  If  he  fails  in  his  efforts  it  is  often  due 
more  to  the  lack  of  tact  and  patience  on  the  part  of  the 
friend  than  to  perversity  on  the  part  of  the  boy.  The 
"Big   Brother"   movement,    the   national   and   local 


PREVENTION.  239 

childrens'  home  associations  and  other  kindred  organi- 
zations are  rendering  invaluable  aid  to  juvenile  courts 
in  their  rescue  work.  It  is  said  that  one  man,  Hon. 
George  L.  Sehon,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  has,  with  his 
own  hands,  placed  ^yq  thousand  homeless  children  in 
good  Christian  homes. 

If  the  favor  with  which  the  ^'Boy  Scout"  movement 
has  been  received  by  the  pubHc  is  a  true  test  of  its 
merits  it  may  do  much  towards  solving  the  boy  problem 
of  the  future.  Although  it  is  in  no  sense,  either  a 
military  or  reform  movement  it  is  pre-eminently  a  boy 
conservation  movement  as  it  takes  the  impressionable 
boy  at  the  critical  psychological  period  of  life,  between 
twelve  and  twenty  years  of  age,  when  the  emotions  and 
sensibiUties  overbalance  reason  and  judgment  and 
guides  him  past  the  quicksands  and  pitfalls  of  adoles- 
cent life.  It  supplies  a  want  in  the  hfe  of  the  boy  that 
so  far  has  not  been  suppHed  by  either  the  home,  the 
school  or  the  church.  It  supplements,  connects,  and 
correlates  the  work  of  all  of  these  and  it  adds  much  that 
they  fail  to  supply.  In  many  respects  it  is  to  the  adoles- 
cent boy  what  the  kindergarten  is  to  the  child.  The 
association  of  out  door  sports  and  games  with  the  study 
of  nature  and  the  accumulation  of  useful  knowledge  on 
nearly  every  phase  of  Hfe  helps  to  develop,  co-ordinate 
and  correlate  all  the  physical  and  psychical  forces  while 
the  moral  nature  is  amply  provided  for  in  the  Scout  law. 


24  O  AMERICAN   BAD   BOYS    IN   THE   MAKING. 

oath  and  motto.  When  one  comes  to  understand, 
therefore,  that  a  whole  army  of  boys  are  receiving  such 
daily  instruction  in  this  country  he  cannot  help  but  be 
hopeful  of  the  citizenship  of  the  future. 

The  increasing  demand  for  manual  and  industrial 
training  in  our  public  schools,  especially  our  city 
schools,  also  argues  well  for  the  future.  This  is  true, 
not  merely  because  such  training  prepares  for  gainful 
trades  and  occupations,  nor  altogether  because  it  com- 
bines harmonious  physical  culture  with  mechanical 
skill,  but  chiefly  because  of  its  high  moral  and  socio- 
logical value.  It  brings  a  consciousness  of  self  suffi- 
ciency, encourages  self  rehance  and  individual  initia- 
tive. 

The  educational  value  of  a  knowledge  of  size,  dimen- 
sion, proportion  and  symmetry,  gained  by  a  familiarity 
with  models  and  forms,  the  advantage  in  delicacy  of 
touch,  precision  and  accuracy  gained  by  handling 
edged  tools  and  doing  skilled  handiwork  and  the 
aesthetic  value  gained  through  a  desire  for  the  true 
and  beautiful,  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 

Much  good,  too,  is  expected  to  come  from  the  almost 
universal  cry  "Back  to  the  farm"  and  the  unprece- 
dented interest  manifested  in  scientific  farming,  as  it 
promises  to  check  the  rush  to  over-crowded  cities  and 
bring  greater  contentment  on  the  farm. 


PREVENTION.  241 

"Tis  weary  watching  wave  on  wave, 

And  yet  the  tide  heaves  onward; 
We  build,  like  corals,  grave  on  grave, 

But  pave  the  pathway  sunward; 
We're  beaten  back  in  many  a  fray, 

Yet  ever  strength  we  borrow. 
And  where  the  vanguard  rests  to-day, 

The  rear  shall  camp  to-morrow." 


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